I Fell In Love With His Writing

How beautiful words can grow intimacy between writers.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

I sat, dumbfounded.

I couldn’t stop staring at the words displayed across my screen.

Such gorgeous metaphors were alive in his words, precariously crafted to crash and fall and at the last moment lifted by profound insight over the next underwater shoal and gently tossed down the face of the proverbial wave by the next phrase. Humorous reflections on the most tender-bellied parts of the human soul. Deep thoughts paired with phrases of snarky grit. It was mesmerizing.

Like a ball rolling down a hill and gathering energy, the short essay by this inimitable writer struck me in the chest with almost physical force. I’d link to the specific essay, but he asked me not to. He’s a behind the scenes kind of fellow, you see.

He wrote with this delightful mix of obscure philosophy, mad cultural references, and deep existential truths. Like a piece of visual art or an incandescent song that catches you up with a strong arm and then sticks in your brain for years — this particular essay stuck to my soul. In a resonant way.

I was smitten. I knew I had to meet this guy. Funny thing how that works in real life. How when you decide something will happen, it so often does.

I started by sharing this particular post on LinkedIn (because I geek down like that). When I went to tag him in the share, I quickly realized that he also resided in my home city.

Kismet can make the world feel pleasantly small at times.

At the time, I was flush with lots of energy around my work and was feeling bold as a newly hired millennial with a Yeti full of espresso. So I reached out to the man himself. I was working on an event with a local business meetup about authenticity and connection in the corporate world. I figured he might be willing to participate, especially since it would be in the local area.

He agreed to consider the request, and we settled on a bar on the north side of town to meet for a drink and a chat. I was beside myself.

Our conversation sprouted from our writing and then grew strong in the soil of our common interests. He wears an…