Alone. Together. by Ryan Connolly on January 05, 2021

The new year finally came, and with it came a newfound sense of optimism. Even though January is pretty arbitrary in the scheme of our Covid timeline, it still provided the promise of a new year and all the potential that brings. Monday I came to work ready to start the new year right. I made a jug of coffee, ate some Trader Joe’s Honey O’s, and posted a fun Dribbble shot.

The day proceeded like most Mondays…until early afternoon.

I had checked the progress of my Dribbble shot a couple hours after I had posted it. And like many posts before it, I looked at the notifications list with sad horror, and felt that optimism I had started the day with slowly seeping from my pores. 2 likes. Great. It made no difference really; this was the typical process. I was used to it. What I wasn’t used to was what would happen next.

I checked LinkedIn and saw I had a new request — the name looked familiar to me. I realized it was one of the people who had liked my Dribbble shot. Cool. He sent a message with his invitation to connect:

My immediate reaction was confusion, shock, and suspicion. Who was this guy? What does he want? What is this? If I click this link will it gather my social security number? Clearly the quarantine has done things to me. But what the heck, I decided to give it a click.

...I was amazed.

This talented developer from Brazil, Marco Cuel, had taken my design and breathed life into it. I felt so honored that someone would devote the time and energy into one of my designs for no other reason than they liked it and wanted to play with it. The most special part of this for me was this new feeling — a break from the ceaseless lockdown. The feeling that we may be all alone and suffering. But at least we’re doing it together.

I’ve never met Marco Antonio Cuel. I probably never will. But thanks to a shared love of design, I had the opportunity to connect with someone on another continent enduring the same struggles as myself.

Thanks, Marco.

I know it was just a fun exercise for you, but it really lifted my spirits and made me optimistic about this year. We’re alone. Together.

Check out the page on Marco’s site, show him some love on Dribbble or connect with him on LinkedIn.