sometimes i experience a void in my life, an emptiness that stems from desiring a deeper connection with people. i just moved to DC a couple months ago and my social circle is slow to build. saturday my roomy was out of town, and the girls i was going out with bailed, so i went out alone. i ran into a friend at the place i went, but after he left it left me feeling just extremely alone.
so these feelings persisted, and last night [sunday] i went to cafe saint ex because i was lonely. i went to have a beer and to just sit and think and open myself up to the possibility of having a conversation with a stranger though i am paralyzed at the thought of starting that conversation.
after sitting in an enjoyable peace for a while a gentleman approached me and started making conversation. and he wasn't hitting on me. turns out this man, Primo, is an extremely smart philosopher/scientist and we traded words for quite a while. or should i say he absolutely schooled me on all things. and even as i would begin to counter a point he had made he would already have a mind blowing counter-counter argument to sway my thoughts. incredible. i've only ever encountered such genius a few times in my life. and to find this type of intellectual connection of which i've been desperately desiring at my exact time of loneliness/need is incredible. he was a european who had lived in nyc for the past 17 years and now lived in dc. phd in neuroscience. extremely well read. articulate and informative, i feel as if i was blessed with more information in one night than if i read 7 different books.
recently i've been listening to the band the books, and one line that really sticks with me in one of their songs is "if we have no expectations, we have nothing to be upset about", and indeed, last night was a prime example of such a worldview. i forced myself out of the apartment, biked downtown, and had only one intention which was to drink a good beer. the rest played itself out as i could only have hoped.
so these feelings persisted, and last night [sunday] i went to cafe saint ex because i was lonely. i went to have a beer and to just sit and think and open myself up to the possibility of having a conversation with a stranger though i am paralyzed at the thought of starting that conversation.
after sitting in an enjoyable peace for a while a gentleman approached me and started making conversation. and he wasn't hitting on me. turns out this man, Primo, is an extremely smart philosopher/scientist and we traded words for quite a while. or should i say he absolutely schooled me on all things. and even as i would begin to counter a point he had made he would already have a mind blowing counter-counter argument to sway my thoughts. incredible. i've only ever encountered such genius a few times in my life. and to find this type of intellectual connection of which i've been desperately desiring at my exact time of loneliness/need is incredible. he was a european who had lived in nyc for the past 17 years and now lived in dc. phd in neuroscience. extremely well read. articulate and informative, i feel as if i was blessed with more information in one night than if i read 7 different books.
recently i've been listening to the band the books, and one line that really sticks with me in one of their songs is "if we have no expectations, we have nothing to be upset about", and indeed, last night was a prime example of such a worldview. i forced myself out of the apartment, biked downtown, and had only one intention which was to drink a good beer. the rest played itself out as i could only have hoped.
