Like Not a Day Has Gone By

Somewhere in the Holland Tunnel this past weekend, I realized I could have given our driver directions.

I spent 30 years of my life in New Jersey, and riding the train into New York City used to be as ordinary as a trip to the grocery store. Then life brought me to Georgia, and more than a decade slipped by before I went back. This weekend, my family and I flew up for a wedding. Newark Airport has been renovated so thoroughly that I barely recognized it, but the moment we came out of the tunnel, I remembered every turn.

The rest of the city came back to me the same way, through the little things I used to take for granted. Bacon, egg & cheese on a whole wheat everything bagel from the corner deli. A hot dog and a pretzel from a street cart. Hailing a Yellow cab, riding the subway, and a walk through Central Park in the rain. The kids were wide-eyed at the Museum of Natural History and thrilled to see the original Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animals at the New York Public Library. One of them even got pooped on by a pigeon, a true New York rite of passage. And at the wedding, my daughter was a perfect flower girl.

The moment I needed most came at FAO Schwarz, where we met up with my best friend from college and ended up spending a few hours together at a brewery. It had been years since I’d seen him, but it felt like not a day had gone by, and within minutes my kids were obsessed with him. I didn’t realize how much I needed that until I was sitting across the table from him.

There’s a kind of comfort that only comes from being with people who already know you. With them, you don’t have to explain who you are or where you’ve been, and you can pick up right where you left off.

As business owners, we spend so much energy chasing the next client, the next tool and the next connection that we can lose touch with the relationships that have been there all along. Those are often the people who keep us steady when business gets hard, and they’re the easiest to neglect because they never ask anything of us. So this week, reach out to someone who knew you before the business and make a plan to see them.

That same feeling is what we try to create at The Nexus, where week after week, new faces become familiar ones. If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s for you, you’re welcome to experience any of our events once, for free, from Mindful Mondays to Flipside Fridays. If one isn’t your fit, try another.

I went to New York for a wedding and came home with a reminder of how much the familiar matters. Whether it’s a city, an old friend or a room full of people who know your name, those are the places that help you find your way back to yourself. Make time for them this week.