The People I Visit
12/17/14
Growing up, I developed a list of people I visted at least once a year.
- My grandparents
- My cousins
- My good friend in Vancouver, Washington
In the last few years, there's been a transitioning of priorities. People I used to see everyday live on the other side of the country. People I used to see everyday I have to make time to see. Maybe I can see them twice a year. But now, making time to see those people displaces and/or destorys the time I have to see the old once-or-twice-a-year people.
It's a strange thing. This expansion of time-intervals between visits of the people I love. It's like an expanding universe. Everything's getting further away. And I have new people I see everyday, but how many of them will drift away into rare visits? How many of them will become a short chat message? How many of them will be lost forever?
There's this story that plays in my head over and over. About a man who discovers he has the power to travel through time. But this discovery is immediately a tragedy, as he has no control over this travel. His first trip is his discovery.
He travels back to when he was a child, but his past self isn't there. Before he could wrap his mind over what's going on, he jumps back to the present.
But it's not the same. His home is not his home. He goes to see his parents, but they don't recognize him. When he tells them who he is, they don't believe him. He had vanished off the face of the Earth over a decade ago.
The very act of time travel had destroyed his history. The only one left who knew it was him. The journey he had taken was now only his.
And again he jumps. To before even his parents were alive. And then, they never lived. His travel had destroyed them, as well.
This is a story I enjoy thinking about. For a long time, I thought it was the story of a man becoming a god, and in the process lost all humanity. But maybe it's a story about how time will change things no matter what direction you travel, no matter how much control you pertain to have. And those changes will often be irreversible. They will hurt. But they'll also be amazing, and lead to great new things.