At the airport I see families, young, a lot of them. Mom, Dad, and the cute little ones. I see adventurers toting backpacks and business people doing who knows what for unknown companies like they're secret agents and all manner of couples out on a lark, some packing heavy, others light. I see newlyweds with these wierd shirts on, one reading 'Hubby' and the other 'Wifey', a goofy trend that started somewhere (I'm absolutely sure the guys got talked into wearing those), and I've also seen a few couples where both of them are wearing the same shirt. Yesterday a couple showed up, both of them wearing 'Bride' shirts.
They're in and out of my area lickety split and I might see 'em again later in the day, next week, or in a month, but probably not. They're off doing their thing and I'm doing mine and due to the manner of my employment, I don't have time to get to know them nor they me so we're ships passing in the night, unless they divulge a snippet of information or I overhear a conversation.
Just the way it is. By default, I am at present somewhat removed but it's not so bad. I have other things to think about. Big picture stuff.
Were I to be in the Jones family, the one where there are three little ones, my mind would be filled with the wild and unpredictable goings on that take place in that little tribe, but it ain't. Were I to be one of the backpacking adventurers, who tend to look a little bit hot and uncomfortable, I would be highly concerned with that world, but I ain't. Ditto the business people's world, and the micro worlds of all the couples I encounter.
My Neighbor Lena
Jude Beck- Unsplash.com
I haven't left the world yet, I'm still in it, but I float high above it, where other contemplatives dwell. We live there like neighbors in Kansas do, miles away but within sight distance of each other. From my perch I can scan the near and far horizons while taking in data, which I use to formulate the overall direction that society is heading in. I'm a self-appointed social scientist and I like doing this. Everywhere I scan, I gather up data.
And there is a lot of data to gather! Put me in a big city and I'm nearly overwhelmed and totally mesmerized by what is going on to the extent that I might appear to be not 'present'. Those around me might say I'm aloof or 'stuck up' but I'm not, I'm just taking it all in, like a big meal.
Information is data and these days I can expose myself to loads of it but it has to follow a path that is interesting to me. Family affairs and smaller worlds don't hold a lot of interest, I'm afraid. Been there, done that, in some other time and place and now I know enough about it to mumble "Uh huh" in response to anything occurring there.
There is a danger, though, in becoming too distant and that is you tend to lose the ability to relate to people at ground level. I try to reign myself in from wherever I'm floating and occasionally come back to the world so that I keep in touch.
It is abhorrent to me that I would become small and uninformed, especially in these times. Give me the big picture, drown me in data! I'll make sense of it. Maybe not right away, but over time I will (but not in a lot of time).
Why am I so driven to do this? I think a lot of it has to do with experience. Experiences I have had. Gonna get woo-woo on ya here, but it makes perfect sense.
I'm driven to do this because I've been the dad with the new family, the backpacker traveler, the businessman (probably called 'merchant' back then) plus a host of other things and all I ever saw was the little picture! Things happened fast in the worlds I was in. I was awash in events, never had time to pause and reflect, and then "Bam!" it was over and I spent a lot of time in the afterlife review area putting the dots together and seeing just what the hell had happened and why.
"Oh" I would marvel. "Maybe I shoulda thought about that more" and so this time around, I do think about it more, maybe too much at times, but that's where I'm at with this. It's hard to feel like you're missing out when you had a lot of life experiences, which are very intense the first time you have them and leave memories that are etched forever upon the soul.
So, balance. Little of this, little of that. Don't drift too far out and don't get sucked into a world where all you see is what is swirling around you.
Life, huh? Your choice. You can go either way.