Strings

a short artistic essay

My sister once told me she saw strings tieing people together. Winding around us and connecting us to our families, to our friends at school, and to our neighbors. Like invisible chains, she said.

At the time, I was a child and I imagined what the strings would look like - winding around me and her and pulling us together and to everyone we knew. But I didn't really see them until I was well into my twenties. My thickest strings extend long distances to the members of my family who are now scattered across the country. I have thick strings extending across town towards my colleagues, most of whom I speak to daily over Zoom calls and Slack messages. I have strings extending towards my old friends, who live far away and who I don't speak to anymore. My neighbors have criss crossing strings connecting them to each other and to the outside world, but only a few faint ones reach me. My strings to my neighbors are thin and exist as a result of a few passing "Hellos" and "Good mornings". But I am connected to each of them through the network of strings that zigzag and crisscross across the globe spun by light banter, trivial complaints, and heartfelt conversations.

It is curious that the day after I first saw the strings, I received a box of mangos from an old friend. I had not seen the friend in over five years, and the package was a nice surprise. But it also came with a burden. I had to get in touch with the friend in order to thank him for his gift. All I had to do is to send a text message saying, "I got some mysterious mangos in the mail today. Any chance they're from you?", or "Wow, mangos! I'll be eating these for days," or "Thank you for the mangos! I love them!". Any of these will do, but the number of possible responses and the subtle variations in their connotations and  expectations paralyze me. What will I do? How long will the conversation last once I message him? Was this gift specific to me -- was he reaching out to strengthen our connection or did he send a box of mangos to many of his friends? Is this romantic or platonic? Why do these things seem so difficult for me? It seems easy for other people, natural. I do not know how to maintain strings. He is maintaining the string for us.