Taking Oppaternities As They Arise

Sometimes you start a daily blog. Sometimes it goes well. Sometimes you fall off the wagon.

The Internet is this magical place where we spend all of our time, but we are only given very short glances into the windows of the lives of others. For readers of the Nathan Is Busy blog, I vanished. But for Nathan himself - I was here the whole time.

I often think of the creators that I follow. I’m currently obsessed with Elyse Myers of TikTok fame. The parasocial contract we’ve signed makes it so that I get into Elyse Myers’ life for around 1-3 minutes per TikTok video. I don’t know her.

And yet, I continue to live my life. And yet, she continues to live hers.

Such is the cycle of the Internet and the nature of the 24/7/365 beast of constant connectivity. It’s neither a good nor a bad thing - it’s just a thing.

What matters most is, of course, the friends we make along the way.

If the Internet is good for anything, it’s making relationships. I will not likely develop a friendship with Elyse Myers. But I will perhaps have one or two who read this blog and say, “Hey - me too!” At that point, I get to add to my relationship book of people who like the same thing as me.

And that’s living. Why would we want it any other way?

All this is to say - I’m nearly back from my paternity leave and will plan to hop back on the wagon with these blogs.

But maybe I won’t.

Who knows?

Regardless of the actual presentation of the thing, take heart that I am still here. And so are you. While this is true, let’s enjoy one another’s company, unspoken or not.

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May 13th, 2022