This Magic Moment
Issue 72
Greetings, beautiful people. As you settle into Issue 72, please take a moment to breathe—one deep breath. Now, let’s proceed…
I start The Letter on the same day I send it—Tuesday. Nobody advises this strategy unless they depend on the wisdom of the moment to guide them—as I do.
When I’ve tried writing bits throughout the week, hoping to lighten the load on send-day, I find none of what I wrote previously matters when I get to Tuesday. Delete. Delete. Delete. It’s all out of sync. Contrived. Every time.
Staying up late on Tuesdays is the price I pay for sending you a letter from my heart. I hope you feel it.
My next topic is from the heart because it’s about being in the moment and the rawness it requires. There’s an app I use daily with two very special people in my life. It’s one-way video chatting, and it’s called Marco Polo.
Whenever I’d like, I open the app and hit record on an off-the-cuff video of any length for either Willow or Stephen (my two Marco’ers) about whatever is on my mind—just as I would if I were on a phone call. Then, I hit send. My recipient watches the video on their time and responds as they wish. That’s it. Back and forth. Back and forth. Videos about, and for life.
There’s no need to schedule a time to chat (ugh), avoid a phone call (as if), or stop everything to catch up on life with a loved one (for real?).
For this, and many more aspects, I’m a giant fan.
The one-wayness of Marco Polo provides each speaker the endless space they wish to share what they want when they want. Facial expressions, interruptions, and the editing that goes along with live conversations are gone with the wind. You’re talking to yourself, which makes the worst part of the app staring at yourself. Even that’s fun, though. The transparency; accepting one another as they are in the moment.
Here’s another thing: Let’s say something is said that causes you to think, maybe feel anxious, or unsure how to respond or interpret. Beautiful, Marco Polo allows you to digest the other person’s words before responding. Do you know how healthy this is? It’s healthy!
Meet My Marco’ers
Let me introduce you to two of my favorite people and fellow Marco’ers. Willow lives in Portugal, and we’ve been Marco’ing for five years. Our entire friendship existed on Marco Polo for the first few years until we started spending in-person time together when she visits Mill Valley. A mutual friend introduced us, and we’ve kept and deepened our overseas friendship through Marco ever since.
Stephen—my significant other, boyfriend, Valentine, any of the above—adopted Marco Polo without my prodding, simply after hearing me talk about my experience with Willow.
Due to schedules, before he and I could meet in person, we traded hours of video, spanning our first Marco on December 20th, to the one he sent just hours ago. The videos don’t disappear unless you delete them (which is sacrilegious because you’re encouraged to be yourself and avoid curation).
Our entire relationship is recorded. It’s wild, and wonderful, and Marco is definitely responsible for the safe, deep connection we’ve built over the two months we’ve known one another.
Yes, we see each other in person, as do Willow and I, but Marcos helps us maintain closeness while we’re at a distance. It’s brilliant. A seriously good connection tool (which ought to be their other tagline).
Finally, a word to the wise: You mustn’t force the app. You either resonate with it, or you don’t. My best friend, whom you’ll meet below, lives in Salt Lake City. We talk on the phone every day. She’s one of the few people I phone-talk with. For whatever reason, our friendship doesn’t call for Marco Polo.
Marco!
Polo!
You’re Dashing - – —
How well do you know your dashes? Don’t be dashful. I’ll teach ya. There are three of them. We’ll start with the smallest and work our way up to the mama bear—my favorite.
-Hyphen: A word connector. It provides minimal interruption as the reader consumes compound words or phrases that work as one.
Example of a hyphen: Susan Anderson-Jones loves day-old bread from the bakery.
Note: Hyphens modify nouns. Day-old relates to bread, which is a noun. If it wrote the bread is a day old, there would be no hyphen.
–En dash: This baby is a tad longer than the hyphen, and it’s used to represent a span of numbers, dates, or times.
Example of an en dash: I was in Park City, UT, with my kids from February 16–19.
Make one on a Mac: option + hyphen.Note: There are no spaces on either side of the en dash, unless you fancy them for style (in which case, graphic designers won’t be too happy with you ;).
—Em dash: This dash is the longest and mightiest IMHO. I use it liberally to accentuate phrases, insert pauses, and sometimes, in place of parenthesis.
Example of an em dash: I’m trying to come up with a sentence that’s cathartic, clever, and a good use of your time and mine—I’m failing.
Make one on a Mac: option + shift + hyphen.
Note: Like the en dash, there are no spaces on either side of the em dash. But, some people like to give their clauses breathing room. It’s a free country. So do what pleases you.
Photos, Fotos, Faux Toes
A family photo from our trip to visit my best friend and her three boys this past weekend in Park City, UT.
Her name is Ashley, and she’s basically my sister. We met 22 years ago while working at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The universe put our desks side by side. Six months in, our friendship was long established, she realizes my last name is also Silverstein. Inseparable since.
This brings me to our five children. This is what we have to show after 22 years of friendship. Not bad at all.
Ashley took the kids on the mountain—she’s a saint—while I stayed back, making sure the cafes were being cafes by ordering coffee and using my computer.
Finally, this one pleases me for its composition, taken of Owen’s seatmate gawking at the San Francisco skyline as we flew home from Salt Lake City, UT.
This lady was a riot. I paid Owen $5 for sitting next to her.
Speaking of @Hilarious
Watch the Today’s Show discuss the Internet in 1994. Enjoy.
"When I’ve tried writing bits throughout the week, hoping to lighten the load on send-day, I find none of what I wrote previously matters when I get to Tuesday. Delete. Delete. Delete. It’s all out of sync. Contrived. Every time."
I feel seen. I never manage to write my newsletter in advance either!
Very cool Simone! I’ve been looking for a way to chat to my parents in SA. They don’t get Facetime (are we looking into the camera?) and took a while to learn Whatsapp calls. This looks like a good way to include them in my day/week.