"Like" and Remember

Earlier this week, one of my posts received a "like" from a former colleague, someone I haven't talked to in years. Now, "liking" online is easily done with a simple mouse click. But since I myself don't actually "like" that often, it matters to me when someone does. Maybe it's that Sally Field "You like me, you really like me" thing, which perhaps lives inside each of us. We all like to know that what we do matters to someone, or to a lot of someones. We want to know that we are somehow making a difference.
 
Yet, on the day of this particular "like," what I felt was more than just "you like me." In an instant, for this was a former soap colleague, I was taken back to control rooms and edit rooms, to long production days and dramatic scenes and big musicals and things I had learned from a master. I guess that's how it is when we get a reminder, ever so brief, of our past. We may insulate ourselves daily with the drama and concerns of today. We may put the past aside. We can even pretend that we don't feel its loss. Yet, it can take just a moment or a "like" to bring it back.
 
As the week went on, I quickly became re-immersed in the daily tasks of my current life. But the "like," and the memories and feelings it brought back, actually stayed with me all week. I guess that can happen when something has mattered in our lives. I suppose it should. If we're lucky, the memory can motivate us to face our next challenge. It can remind us where we've been, what we've done, and how that mattered.
 
So, never underestimate the power of a well-placed "like." It may convey "you really like me," but it can end up doing a whole lot more.