Good Morning.  What are you celebrating this fine Monday morning?  How was your weekend? Did you get a chance to get out of doors in the crisp Alberta air or whereever in the world you are? What do you enjoy doing on the weekends?  How is your family?  Did the baby cut her tooth yet?  Is your mother feeling better?  How was the drive to Saskatchewan?  Did your son win his game?  Did you enjoy the concert?

These are the kind of questions I would ask if you were here.  We could have this great conversation about how you spend your time and that would renew and refresh me for the week ahead.  I miss those kinds of conversations from the world of work.  I miss the connection with people on a daily basis.  I miss the kind of sharing that only really happens between coworkers.

The awesome thing about being in St Albert is that I occasionally run into people I had that kind of relationship with years ago.  It is still the same.  We step right back into the repartee of coworkers and I love that.

As a writer you spend alot of time alone and, although I have my fabulous book coach who works with me from her home in BC, I rarely talk to anyone on a regular basis about the weekend or about my work or theirs.  We email and send documents back and forth and we get lots done but I don’t TALK to people the way I did when I was in a school five days a week.

I wonder how many other people working from home miss the kind of connection you get from sharing a physical space with someone.  Some of those people become your friends and stay with you through out your life but even if they don’t when you see them there is a bond of experience that cannot be ignored.

Hug your coworker today.  You won’t have them forever. One day you will decide to do something else or they will and whether you enjoy their company or not you will miss them.  Appreciate the struggles and the triumphs and the comfort that comes with shared space and experience.