I think, in spite of… *gestures widely at everything*.. I’ve put a lot of trust in people this year.
I’ve been let down, sure. By my government, my parents, people I thought were friends. But putting my trust in people has led to amazing experiences in 2025.
In December 2024, I got stood up for a dinner date. It was the final straw on top of an already large pile of final straws. I went home and broke down in my living room, distraught. I called a friend to cheer me up.
Laying on my floor, still wearing my raincoat, I hung up the phone. I scrolled Instagram and got an extremely targeted ad, like a message from a divine entity (or Facebook’s hyper-specific ad reach):
Seriously. Watch that video. It’s absurd.
The next day, I discussed the video at work.
“Are you going to go?” A coworker asked. I had already started looking at flights to San Diego. She continued. “What if it’s an elaborate Ryans-only murder plot?”
“I don’t think that’s the case,” I said. “What if it goes totally right?”
I flew to San Diego in January. I had never been! I went to the zoo, and stayed with a friend-of-a-friend that I had only met once before. More trust put in others. They set me up with an air mattress in a spare room.
I went to the Ryans-only comedy night, and the Ryans-only game show the next night. It was one of the wildest weekends of my life. I had never met so many nice people in one place, and all of them with the same name! After just 2 days, I knew I could count on Ryans to be friendly and kind.
The Ryan Meetup didn’t happen just once — I went to another meetup in June…
..and another in September. I flew a red-eye flight to New York City (where I have also never been), stayed in a rented apartment with 8 other Ryans, and had a wonderful weekend.
I think if I had stumbled upon the Ryans two years ago, I would not have had the courage to meet them. Perhaps it’s just growth. Maybe I’ve decided to be more open and trust others wholly. I could write for days about the incredible people I’ve met, the amazing things we’ve done, and what we’re hoping to do together next— but the most important thing is that I’m glad I met Ryan.
And Ryan.
And Ryan.
And Ryan.
And all of the Ryans.
See you in 2026, Ryan. I’ll be there!