The most important thing in my life is my relationships.
The people in my life are gifts, great teachers who I want to love and respect as much as possible.
I have an uncanny ability to connect with a wide array of different people. Every person I meet is a gleaming mirror. I see them, and yet, I see myself. And I am in awe every time I meet someone.
I believe we are all teachers and we are all students. We are all here to teach and to learn, and I take this to heart. I believe I attract people into my life – and often, I’m left wondering why. But sometimes, it’s abundantly clear.
Either way, there is a lesson in each relationship. And if we are lucky (and paying attention), there are multiple lessons. It is this, this sharing of information and knowledge and humanity, that I desire the most. I suppose that is one reason why I have met so many new people recently … I am hungry.
I have so many different kinds of relationships, and not all of them are honored in the way I would prefer. But I, being only part of the relationship, cannot make choices for others. And so – I let go and let them be what they are.
But there are the mutual relationships, those that kindle and spark and catch fire. And all you can do to is try to keep up with the unrolling of Selves. I love it when that happens.
Friend. It’s a word that I mean when I say. And YOU are my friend. I look at people, even the ones I haven’t had the honor of meeting yet, as my friend. And that perception alone seems to draw people near. I didn’t always do this – In fact, I’m still honing the finer points of this skill, but it’s a valuable one, and I seek to master it.
I am supportive and open, loving and kind. I listen hard and ask pointed questions (that sometimes cause much contemplation). But most of all – I really want to know. I want to know you.
Not everyone I meet is prepared for this, not everyone wants it. And that’s ok – we can still be friends. But those that do, please know how much I enjoy the quivery dance of language, the search for seemingly attainable clarity through verbs and adjectives and nouns. I love this process. Each and every story has it’s color and texture, and I feel completely honored to have the chance to soak it all in.
This is what I do. To some, it is completely foreign and something to be afraid of. They ask me why I would talk to the stinking homeless man, or why I spend so much time chatting up the waitress. Please, rest assured, it’s all benign. Why not? Perhaps they have something to say … and I how would I know unless I asked?
Speaking of homeless men, I have a great story about one in Austin:
Me, standing outside a club, in a throng of hundreds of people – a well-bearded, obviously homeless man approached me. He said to me, “For some reason I feel like I need to talk to you.” That always gets my attention. So we talk, about where we’re from, what we do (or did), etc. He has a guy with him, younger, cleaner. And not to be rude, I invited him to join the conversation. The younger man was Tim Johnson, a guy I went to high school with – and shared an apartment with briefly. I went all the way from Philadelphia, to Atlanta, to Austin – on one random weekend – to meet a friend I hadn’t seen in 15 years. What are the chances? Thanks to the adept perceptions of his friend, we may have never reconnected. I love it when that happens.
Of course, major misperceptions ensued on Tim’s part. And this happens a lot to me. I seem to be in the right place at the right time more often than not, but it’s often misunderstood just why I am there. It confuses me sometimes too. But I can be honest in saying that I am not here to “save” anyone, much like Tim thought. If I can do anything, it’s only to reflect what’s shown me. I’d like to be a good reminder – about what is and what could be. Those are the things that I need reminding about…
I like people. I love stories. I love feeling the connection between us. I feel peace when I remember how we are not separate, but only parts of a whole. I love when I meet a new person, and they look me in the eye and speak my mind like I would’ve. I love it when a complete stranger opens my head and pours in new thoughts and questions. And I so enjoy this inter-connectivity, the stretching of brain cells and tongues to want to understand one another.
Why else are there BILLIONS of us all over this one, tiny blue-green planet, spinning through this vast thing called the universe?
