I spent a good chunk of my day reading someone’s online diary or something along those lines. Now, I’ve never met this person. He doesn’t even know my name. I only know his cause it says it on his web page. Yet I spent several hours of my day, work day nonetheless, reading about his life. These entries were dated, too. Around last February.

After all that time, I wondered why I was interested in reading about details of his life. Why did I care about the affairs of this guy whom I will most likely never meet? I’m not even into published non-fiction, why did I enjoy this stranger’s writings so much?

Then I realized that this was just like those letters I used to ask people to write. As opposed to what they assumed, I didn’t want them to write about me or how they felt about me. I wanted to know what they were thinking and how they felt. I have always believed that people are more honest when they write. Lack of instant reaction helps ward off worries about the effects of your words. These writings have given me a glimpse into this guy’s soul. Or at least a part of his thoughts.

I love meeting new people. Getting to see how they think, what makes them tick and what choices they’ve made fascinate me. Every person I meet, on or offline, teaches me something new about myself. New people open my mind, broaden my horizons, and challenge my thought process.

The neat thing is, pages where people write about themselves give me a similar opportunity. While it’s a skewed and one-sided relationship, it’s still a peek into someone’s thoughts, feelings or life. I look at their hobbies, their passions and learn about new things. That’s why I prefer personal pages to ones that simply contain daily links.

Even though I might never tell him, I’m delighted about the insights I gained from today’s visit.

So I wanted to thank him.

Previously? Straight Shooter.