I often see people I used to know. I see them in the faces of strangers I pass during the course of any given day. And in the movements of some, the stride, the gait, the body posture, the mannerisms. Bits and pieces of those I’ve known, in brief, unexpected glimpses. Character traits, personalities, emotional temperament. Illuminations of the heart, the soul even. A smile belonging to an old friend, or a brief casual acquaintance. A familiar warmth which may once have embraced me, but has long been forgotten. Or a glare that connects me, suddenly, to a moment I may have quietly moved away from for fear of the entanglements of its unfriendly, and ravenous tentacles.
I recall, and re-acquaint with, so many different people thru these quick, enigmatic encounters. The living, and the dead, both. They re-visit my world for a moment to remind me that I am still a part of them, that I am connected. That I have been given a small portion of their soul, and they have been given a piece of my own. They remind me that we are alone in this world, but that we are never really without one another. The residue of each brief connection resonates within our very existence. We do not exist independently of each other. We exist in harmony with our experience, with the sacred, and the profane. All of it. We are continually reminded if we only pay attention.
Good friends and family are important. They love and embrace us, and can make us feel secure. They reflect our development, and our psychic/spiritual condition. But some people hang on to everyone they’ve ever befriended or loved, fearful of being alone, afraid of facing their own limitations, their own demons, the lingering doubt about their capacity for self-sufficiency. Some cling with a desperation that betrays any measure of faith, trust, or understanding, in themselves, about themselves. It is a way of moving through the world both distracted and cocooned. It works for many. It gets them through, but at the expense of getting to know themselves in a broader, deeper context.
Were we to fully understand the principal of spiritual connection, perhaps we could live without the distraction of perpetual reinforcement.
Perhaps we could.
