It's a Small World After All

I've been fascinated by the inter-connectivity of people for a long time. Growing up in a town of 300 people, everyone is connected (usually by family) to one another. The concept of 6 degrees of separation always confused me, in rural Minnesota, no one is further than 2 it seems. I love the deep sense of community and connection that I grew up around. But I felt a little trapped, and decided to explore the world, and move to Minneapolis for school. Despite only being 90 miles from home, my freshman dorm building would have twice the population of my hometown. It was an exciting adventure, "the cities."

Now, I'm very well aware that Minneapolis is relatively small on the scale of large cities, but at 1000 times the size of my hometown, it was huge to me...at first. Over the years, I've learned that when you're looking for connection (especially with technological advances) the world is much smaller than it seems - no matter how many people live within a particular area. The once giant Minneapolis now feels like home, my city...not everyone knows my name, but I can run into people unexpectedly and make connections all the same. I'm pretty sure that's why I love it so much. I have a fabulous city with delightful coffee shops, theaters, public transit, breweries, parks, and lakes -- and still find the community and relationships I appreciated so much in rural Minnesota.

Fun "small world" connections as of late:

• Nobel Peace Prize Forum - I was on the welcoming committee with Vision, a freshman in college who moved here from Tanzania last August. She's a part of Students for Racial Justice and knows my dear friend Ari who I originally met through STLF. I also saw Allie, who I met a few years prior at Monday Night Dinners hosted by my friends Eric and Tim and have seen periodically over the years.
• Global Shapers hosted a "Meet the Shapers" happy hour last week, and it shouldn't have been any surprise that our circles overlapped with one another - but within 5 minutes of chatting learned that in addition to our mutual connections through Shapers, one attendee works with my first Minneapolis friend Kari... and another played volleyball on the team my mentor Jean coached.

These were the strangers I met and had mutual connections with. Amazing. And wonderful. In addition, in the last couple weeks I have run into friends three times at events we independently attended. And the previously foreign St. Paul Skyway now is full of hellos and smiles shared with acquaintances. Small. World. 

there is just one moon
and one golden sun
and a smile means friendship to everyone
though the mountains divide
and the oceans are wide

it's a small world after all

-Disney's "It's a Small World After All"