When you stop and think about how you connect with people today, it's kind of a mess, isn't it? We're all surrounded by so much noise, so many posts and updates from everyone we know, and yet we forget about the connections that really matter. Our lives have become a whirlwind of social media, and we get caught up in a trap of seeing only what's right in front of us. I like to call this "relational amnesia."
Imagine a garden, filled with different types of plants. Some need more water, some need more sunlight, and some might need a bit of extra care. Our relationships are a lot like that garden. But the thing is, we often forget to tend to the plants that aren't right in our face, thriving on their own.
And just like a garden, if you don't take care of those relationships, they wither and die.
What if we had a tool that helped us see our relationships like a gardener sees their garden? Something that could remind us to water this plant or that one, to shine a little light where it's needed, or even to plant a new seed where there's room for growth?
I have a dream of technology that could do just that. A system that connects with everything you do, keeping track of all the relationships in your life and helping you nurture them, almost like a gardener with an incredibly green thumb.
Imagine if this system knew what each person in your life needed, what they cared about, what they were working on, and what they wanted to achieve. It would be like having a relational map that's constantly updated and always clear. No more forgetting about friends or loved ones. No more missing out on incredible collaborations or connections.
And the best part? It wouldn't just be a tool for you. It would be a system that supports everyone in your network, helping them find the best opportunities to contribute to the causes they love. It's about more than just keeping in touch; it's about growing together and building something beautiful.
This idea might sound a bit far-fetched now, but I believe it's possible. I dream of an intelligent, autonomous system that puts humans first and helps our relationships flourish. I see a world where we can rise above the chaos and really focus on what's meaningful in our lives.
We're all stuck in patterns, overwhelmed by the noise, but we don't have to be. We can create something new, something that allows us to see the invisible and make it real. Just like a garden, our relationships can grow and thrive if we take the time to care for them (and get a little support from our AI friends). I dream of a world where we all have the tools to do just that.
ADDENDUM: HOW GARY STAYS IN TOUCH WITH HIS FRIENDS WITHOUT AI
Okay, I realized that this article deserves a little more concrete mapping to what I'm doing right now, without the AI really being a relational gardener. Right now, the gardener is myself, with the aid of a very basic personal relationship management database system that I have built on Notion.
The way it works is very, very simple. You know, I have one row per person I want to keep in contact with, and I just make a note in that database about how frequently I want to be aware of what they're doing, and maybe send them a quick text, saying, "Hey, I was thinking of you."
An example of this was today. I have a good friend, Susanna, whom I want to touch base with at least on a monthly basis.
I looked at my personal relationship manager and saw that I was overdue to reach out to her (notice the ⚠ symbol), so I sent her a text. Susanna was very happy to have received it, and we're probably going to catch up later this week.
I love having tech augment my relationship management because I'm not someone who can easily keep hundreds of people top of mind because of how large my network is. It's very hard for me to stay connected with all the people I love, and in order to keep them top of mind, I need systems to help me do that.