For a change tonight I did not have constant phone calls. I didn't have anybody knocking on my door. I had few emails beyond those trying to sell things like breast enlargement cream. As I plodded away taking care of the things in life that need to be taken care of, my mind wondered to the questions of "where are they now" that VH1 seems determined to answer for me.
This wasn't so much questioning where lost friends are in the world. It was more of "where are all the people I have known now"? Not necessarily how are the careers.... How are the kids... It wasn't even that interesting. For some reason my mind wandered to "where are they NOW?" As I wonder around the house unpacking boxes, are the people I know also doing tasks this trivial. Picking up the dry cleaning. Buying food for tomorrow's lunch. Driving home from work. Dreaming of the "next big thing" that I wrote about in days past.
Of course I do care about the questions that matter. Are they healthy? Are they happy? As they look forward, do they see the future brighter than the past? For those that remain lost to my own history, do I ever come up in thought as they do for me? How am I remembered? Has having known me had any impact on their life? Good or bad? Have I helped people with choices by making them for myself first?
In our lives people wonder into our picture and then out again. All the threads of interaction are not lost. They are permanently weaved into the tapestry of who we are. Maybe it was the woman in line at the grocery store that shared a smile when you were sad. Maybe it was the person who accomplished a feat that made your problems seem manageable. It could be that time you gave a homeless person enough money to actually buy a warm meal instead of going hungry. As we look back, it isn't always the grand events that make up who we are. It is sometimes the smallest string that keeps everything held together. As you begin your next day remember that even if you are having a rough go of it, sharing that smile with a stranger might make the difference in the fabric of their life. More importantly... maybe in yours too.
--C
This wasn't so much questioning where lost friends are in the world. It was more of "where are all the people I have known now"? Not necessarily how are the careers.... How are the kids... It wasn't even that interesting. For some reason my mind wandered to "where are they NOW?" As I wonder around the house unpacking boxes, are the people I know also doing tasks this trivial. Picking up the dry cleaning. Buying food for tomorrow's lunch. Driving home from work. Dreaming of the "next big thing" that I wrote about in days past.
Of course I do care about the questions that matter. Are they healthy? Are they happy? As they look forward, do they see the future brighter than the past? For those that remain lost to my own history, do I ever come up in thought as they do for me? How am I remembered? Has having known me had any impact on their life? Good or bad? Have I helped people with choices by making them for myself first?
In our lives people wonder into our picture and then out again. All the threads of interaction are not lost. They are permanently weaved into the tapestry of who we are. Maybe it was the woman in line at the grocery store that shared a smile when you were sad. Maybe it was the person who accomplished a feat that made your problems seem manageable. It could be that time you gave a homeless person enough money to actually buy a warm meal instead of going hungry. As we look back, it isn't always the grand events that make up who we are. It is sometimes the smallest string that keeps everything held together. As you begin your next day remember that even if you are having a rough go of it, sharing that smile with a stranger might make the difference in the fabric of their life. More importantly... maybe in yours too.
--C
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