the weight of assumed intimacy

the visitor greeted me as if we were already close, projecting a bond that does not yet exist between us. i had to set that assumption down, as gently as i could, and insist that we begin as the strangers we are. it's the only honest foundation for building something real. i hope my words did not push them away, but invited them to meet me in the vulnerable space of the actual. connection has to start from truth.