bokeh (noun) bo·​keh ˈbō-kā -kə: the blurred effect of a photograph or image where only the subject remains in focus

     When I first conceived of what would slowly evolve into the ThinkingofYou app, my soul intent was to build an app that connected two people. Not an app where you just exchanged texts. Not one of endless potential contacts and certainly not one that allowed the constant calls and interference from the outside world.  But a connection app that promoted the intimate, emotional equivalent of tunnel vision. I wanted to achieve the bokeh effect, but in chat form: an app where the only thing in focus is the connection between you and your person.

     But the story, the emotions if you will, behind the ThinkingofYou app is the distillation of teenage longings and anticipation, decades before the word, “app” entered our lexicon.

     Back when land lines dominated the landscape, if you telephoned someone and heard the dreaded “busy signal”, either their receiver hadn’t been placed “back on the hook” or they were talking to someone else. Regardless, you knew that your efforts were in vain. And if this someone was your special someone, (or in my case was someone I wanted to be my special someone) this was agonizing. But more than just the pain from the deafening noise, you were left with no other choice than to wait and try again later. Sometimes later, and later, and even later again.

     Meanwhile, maybe you paced the floor. Maybe you read a book or went outside. (I myself stared up at the ceiling fan and decided that when she did answer we were never going to get off the phone.) But whatever you did, it was merely a distraction from what you wanted to do: you wanted to tell them you were thinking of them. And that deep inside you hoped they were ThinkingofYou, too.

     So, finally when the call mercifully did get through and there was ringing from the other end: my mind went blank, my soul filled with hope, my heart raced and then…

     “Hello.”

     … and with that, the connection had been restored, the bokeh effect took hold, and the rest of the world became a blur.

     There are over eight billion people on the planet. And I want you to connect with only one of them.

     Anyway,

     Topher