The Continental Drift Theory

Photographer: Mark Squires

According to the Continental Drift Theory by Alfred Wagener, the earth's continents were once joined in a super continent called Pangaea (all earth). Over a vast period of time, the super continent started to break apart, and drift from each other, thus creating the seven continents we now have.

People in a way are like continents, and friendships or maybe relationships in general, experience something like a continental drift. 

Tides apart, you are Asia, and I, Oceania. 

The only thing worse that deafening silence is awkward small talk - H.Reina

Photographer: Steve Meisel for W magazine

The said cause of the drift was the expansion of the ocean floor which resulted in the movement of tectonic plates. The continents that existed on the plates then started to break and drift apart as a result of the changing ocean floor. The movement of tectonic plates then caused earthquakes on continents. To this day, certain parts of the continents continue to manifest tiny, barely noticeable movements.

Like the earth, people adapt and change; forged by time, by fate, by the universe. They cope, recover and move on; and if they're strong enough, transcend.

 There were no earth shattering arguments, no eruptions of temper. Awkward attempts at small talk in the dark now replace our wordless conversations of mutual understanding. I would have preferred  silence to seep in to fill the void laughter left. It would've broken my heart less. 

We were carried away by the same tides that brought us together. I would swim to you more than half way through, but it seems like my limbs have forgotten how. Now, I find solace at the thought that we are still connected by the same tides that separate us.

Photographer: Bruno Dayan

The Continental Drift Theory was not widely accepted till the 1960s when fossils found mainly from the outskirts of continents show the same species. Mineral specimens along the supposed break lines were nearly identical as well further proving the theory that it was once part of a whole.

Even after relationships wane, people leave imprints on other people's lives; or at least one can hope as much. A memory is not just a date or a place, its a feeling, a part of yourself that you choose to share with another. A memory is a part of two persons joined then equally shared. May it be tears of triumph or anguish, a burden shared and surpassed, or even something simple as a shared secret smile, a part of it remains with you, and part of it, with the other.

Our shores have drifted far apart, yet the waves that hug yours and mine are the same. Your shore and mine are of the same sand, and above us is one sky.

Another idea is that the continents are again moving towards each other.  The tiny, barely noticeable movements the continents are now making shall someday lead to the reunion of the continents and thus, Pangaea shall be reborn.

People in a way are like continents, constantly changing, evolving with time, and always under construction. They break, drift and heal.

People in a way are like continents, and friendships or maybe relationships in general, experience something like a continental drift.  They slowly, maybe unconsciously drift  apart, experience unstable grounds, get shaken by earth quakes and just as slowly as they drifted apart, find their way back and share the same shores. 

As the warm water gently laps at my feet, I pray yours are as warm and inviting. We shall weather each quake, each storm, together and apart. And I shall wait patiently for the tide that brought us together and the tide that now separate us to be the very same tide to reunite us someday.