Stories and memories get condensed. Like Jake might say he's going out with Mike for a 

beer

when in fact there was a lot more they did than just get a beer. But we can communicate with each other by saying these symbolic meanings.

Went out for a beer.

The person we communicate the most with in this way is ourselves.

We have a 

coffee

with someone. We take a 

roadtrip

together. We work together.

Huge compression happening, because we all know there is more details there... but we also accept that we'll never be able to -- or even want to -- understand things at that 

resolution

.

If you extrapolate this compression, you'll see that this is how we begin to see a 

life

.

When someone we knows dies, we'll say "they lived a good life."

Compression.

It can scare us to think that that's all that a life amounts to. We might trick ourselves thinking that the people in our lives won't think of us that way when we pass. But that's the truth. So enjoy it!