13. Just Passing By

Welcome to episode 13 of Musing Interruptus. Guess what, it is Friday. I’m feeling it. I’m feeling something. But that is not what I’ve popped in to tell you. It’s Musing Interruptus and I am so happy to say hello, good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. How’s it going? What’s going on over there, on the other side of this? Thank you for listening. After traveling, I can attest to being shaken. I don’t regret it. I rather like it. The feeling of something fundamentally changing, unexpectedly. My perception of life changes with each person I meet, each experience I have and place I visit, like colonizing a new part of the universe. No, not colonizing, just visiting. I’m aware we are all just visiting. On this highway of life, we are all just passing by, passing the slowpoke, sometimes being the slowpoke. I suppose one of the best parts, letting it all sink in after the journey. Throughout life, we meet people, some who stay, some who go, some who come and go. I am reminded of the importance of doing my best to see people for who they are, behind the bravado, pain, trauma, resentment… All of which create a chasm between themselves and the world. I’m not saying it is our responsibility to do this. I believe our responsibility is to work on ourselves. That being said, we are passing by, sometimes stopping in, invited to sit a spell in people’s lives, and we extend these invitations as well. -Come in, take a load off, put your feet up, can I interest you in a drink? How about a life together? Let’s be friends forever or at least while we’re here. The art is seeing people for who they are, not who we want them to be. Loving people without expectations of fulfilling our own needs. Of course, they are there. Our needs, desires, wants… But fulfilling those, falls upon us, those are our responsibilities. Understanding the other person’s language, strategies and words, on their terms, as best as possible, unlocks new worlds of interaction. Hello, I see you are scared and hurt, let me sit with you. Ahh, you laugh a lot, that is how you share your truth, that is how you hide it too. How sweet when we encounter people who are willing to do the same for us. What you have there is potential for friendship, and other ships. I was harshly reminded of this during my trip. Manifestations of love come in different shapes and forms. An exercise of empathy and forgiveness, of love and healing. Before I left on my trip, a dear friend, who, by the way, is excellent at seeing people and naturally finds ways to understand them, reminded me the seaside is an ideal place to let go. Something about salty water curing all ailments. It is a common belief. After more than two years of absence, I felt the need to be closer to the ocean. There is more to it. Walking along the beach, at the blurry edge of water and sand. There is sound. Booming, crushing, inviting, magnetic and hypnotic. I had forgotten how much I loved feeling slammed by the waves, rendered helpless only to get up and do it all over again. Sitting in the surf or just flirting with my toes and the sand. A love affair in three acts. A redundant, maybe misguided love. Keep reading