​Physical media is so cool. It’s cool having vinyl records and cover art displayed on your walls. Posters are great.

People like me love physical media. But I think we forget the drawbacks of a world without digital media.

We have fond memories of waiting outside a Gamestop at midnight to buy the newest video game. Of finding the perfect VHS/DVD at blockbuster on a Friday night.

But we forget the drawbacks. We forget what it’s like to be in line for the newest Madden game. You get to the front of the line, only to find out that the last copy was just sold. We forget what it was like to find the movie you wanted at blockbuster, but all copies had already been rented out.

Nowadays with digital media, we never have to worry about running out of physical media. Any kind of media is available to download. 

I bring that up to share a funny story about my friend Donald. Back in the day when the Nintendo Wii was released, everyone was trying to get their hands on one. 

Me and a group of my friends went to Gamestop in hopes of getting three wiis: one for me, one for Donald, and one for my friend Brian.

We weren’t old enough to drive yet so my sister drove us.

Here I am, two hands at the piano

​Its so easy to go on auto-pilot in your friendships and relationships. 

In league of legends, its nice to auto-pilot. You can go through the motions, do what you do, without having to give too much thought. It’s a nice way to relax after a long day.

But going on auto-pilot is not the way to level up. You need to be intentional in how you gank a lane. You need to plan out how you set up for an objective. 

Similarly, in love and friendships, being on auto-pilot is amazing. Being comfortable enough to autopilot is such a luxury. You have to build up to having that luxury through time spent together and communication.

But in order to level up your relationships, you can’t be on autopilot the whole time. You must spend time and energy and planning. I think this is something that I could work on.

-Written from Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park. Planes are flying overhead. People are hanging out, tanning, reading. I’m listening to The Art of Loving and reading All About Love by bell hooks.