Sometimes the People Closest to Us Feel Like Strangers

Hi friends a few days ago my family and I went on a short trip to the mountains. We stayed in a small wooden hut surrounded by trees and fresh air. The view was beautiful. Everywhere I looked there were green hills, peaceful skies and the kind of silence that makes you forget how loud life usually is. It should have been perfect.

But for some reason I felt lonely.

I couldn't understand why. I was with my family so why did it feel like something was missing. At first I thought maybe I just missed my friends. After all most of my happiest memories are with them. Then I realized something. I've been on trips with my friends before but almost never with my family.

That strange feeling wasn't because I missed my friends. It was because I didn't know how to be around my own family outside of home. It felt awkward at first. Almost like I was traveling with strangers instead of the people I've lived with my whole life. As the trip went on things slowly changed.

We started talking more. We laughed over small things. We shared food, stories and random conversations that we never seem to have at home. Little by little the awkwardness disappeared and the silence became comfortable.On the way back I kept thinking about it.

How is it possible to live with people every single day and still feel so far away from them. Maybe life gets busy. Maybe everyone is stuck in their own routine. We eat together but don't really talk. We live under the same roof but forget to spend time together. This trip reminded me that family relationships also need time. They need conversations, memories and moments away from daily life.

Friends will always be important to me but maybe sometimes we should also choose to spend a day with our family. Go somewhere together. Put the phones away. Talk about random things. Laugh a little more. Sometimes the people we are looking for have been beside us all along. We just forgot to know them.