“Five years isn’t long, but it’s long enough.”

And so, here’s my wish: if there’s a community you’ve admired for a long time, and you’ve been standing on the outside looking in, and you feel like you’re hopelessly late, I hope you’ll consider striking up a conversation sometime this week. Five years from now, those people could be old friends.

Diana’s wish, sparked by the XOXO Festival and the beautiful things that can happen when you put time, passion, curiosity, emotional thoughtfulness, and an open heart together.

A couple of months ago at our wedding, Sloane and I talked about how many of the people there we really hadn’t known that long (many people for less than 3 to 5 years), but how time wasn’t the most important factor. Connection and commitment were more important than just time. So many of these friendships, forged and supported online and offline, in New Orleans, New York, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, and beyond, had been formed in less than five years.

Five years is long enough to make lifelong friends.

When you are talking about, joking about, or making resolutions tonight, consider how far a year can take you on that five year, ten year, twenty year and beyond path.