Missing Connections

There's a place on craigslist.com where you can post about missing connections. write to random people you saw that made you turn your head. Like a guy sees an attractive girl on the subway everyday but has never spoken to her. So he writes on this site, expressing his interest. Some of it is pretty funny. Some of it is really sweet. But it got me thinking. And here's what I would write.

Dear missing connection,

I wish I could make you happy. I wish you could see what things could be like if we were together. It would be amazing. We could do great things. You don't see that, though, do you? I can see you're sad. You pretend not to be. You put on a pretty good front actually. You fool a lot of people. But not me. I can see right through that facade. I see the hurt inside. I see the fear. That you might actually find happiness after the misery you've experienced thus far. I see how you trick people into thinking you've let them in. I see how hard you strive to be the person you think you should be. It makes me sad. To see you like this. Because I see all you can be. In just a glance. It's almost funny to me that no one else can see it, not even you. But I can. I wish you could. I wish you could see all you can be. I wish you could want what I want for you. I wish I could tell you everything I'm thinking and all I think of you. I have so much to tell you. But I can't. I think, if only I could tell you. Everything would change. You would let me in. You would find that happiness you are searching for. And I could be there with you to discover it. To watch you find what you're looking for. But. That's the thing about my thoughts. They're not real.

But if, someday, you decide you would like to hear what I have to say. To finally be vulnerable enough to see what I see. To stop being so scared to let me in. Find me. Come find me. I'll be the one in the back. The one you've ignored all this time.