There's something weird going on in my life right now. I won't go into specifics of the whos and the whens and the whys, but people from my past keep materializing in my life. From out of nowhere. Seemingly randomly. Most - though not all - have been women. Friends from high school, old girlfriends, women I had crushes on decades ago. No less than 6 strange, unexpected meetings or contacts. Some from very long ago, some from more recently. Not all of them crush/romantic type persons, but all of them persons who I had some type of feelings for, and all of them persons who showed up completely out of the blue, without warning, and at more or less the same time.

So... Why now? Why are they all coming into my life at once? Are there more coming? Is there some pattern here? Am I supposed to learn something from one of them? All of them? I'm not sure what this means, but I do, somehow, think it means something.

This is my working theory:

All through my life, I have craved the feeling of connection. I guess everyone craves this, but somehow, I think I have felt it more, or wanted it more, or somehow felt it more lacking in my life than most people. I have sought out, wanted, made a big effort to be with people, to spend time with people, to feel close and comfortable with people. More often than I allow myself to acknowledge, these efforts have been a waste of time. Too often, I am the one making the phonecall, sending the email, writing the note, only to have that effort snubbed or ignored or forgotten. Now, all the sudden, people are falling back into my life, for no apparent reason. If nothing else, I view this as good karma somehow catching up with me. And that (even if that's all it is) means everything to me.

I believe very strongly in the principle of good karma. I think that good deeds do get repaid. And I do view myself as a good person, and a good friend. And I have decided to believe that this recent influx of people who I cared/care about is somehow a "repayment" for past good deeds. I must embrace this, and embrace it for its own sake. And not only accept this gift, but then push myself to be an even better person, an even better friend. If I can find it in myself to go there, imagine what I can accomplish...

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And now, a photograph.