Just Be There - 22Jan19

I had the luxury of traveling away from my present hometown for a quick 36-hour trip to take care of a little business and visit with two friends that I hadn't seen in 15+ years (other than on FaceBook). Fifteen+ years ago, we spent a fair bit of time together several times a month, and then life happened, people moved away, interests changed, people just did 'people stuff', and life moved on.  We stayed tangentially connected because of social media, which sometimes feels more intimate than it actually is.  Sometimes it does serve a degree of intimacy.

With one friend, it was a treat to be able to sit face-to-face sharing a meal of good Tex-Mex and just catch up.  We'd talked for well over an hour, suddenly noticing how easily we fell back into that camaraderie that we used to share, and took completely for granted. So many stories we re-told, and so many were left unspoken.

With the other friend, we sat in her living room, in adjacent comfy chairs with her cats exploring as they chose, and the same magic happened.  Real people, real life, real stuff.  Clearly time had passed, but it was an illusion that the passing of time made any difference at all.  What a joy.

Then later in the day, I was in the airport terminal having a lovely meal before heading out and I watched the people walking by.  Since I used to live in this town, part of me wondered if I'd see anyone I recognized.  No, and that was OK.  

There was one young couple that caught my attention for several minutes, he was leaving and she was not.  She did the obligatory recording of him waving goodbye, interrupted by a farewell kiss and hug, she watched him as he made his way through the security checkpoint.  Who sang the song, about it being easier to be the one leaving than the one left behind? I'm sure I could find out, if it mattered enough.

Maybe that's what we are here to do.  Just be there. Be present and support each other in any way we can. That's quite a good gig.

Let It Be, Let It Be...

I'm a doer by nature.  So the notion of just being still, and letting things happen on their own is not completely 'natural' to me.  Yesterday I had the marvelous gift of being able to just sit on the shaded patio of a friend's beautiful house and just stare off into the distance at the mountains, the desert, and the building cumulus clouds of what would later become last night's yummy rains.  To not have to do anything, be anything, have anything, other than that moment of now was totally delicious.  It wasn't silence -- there were kids splashing and laughing in the pool, a bit of ukelele music on the I-Thing and conversation going on at a nearby table.  For a long moment, it was like all my gears disengaged and I was coasting without any effort.  I was sitting peaceably and contented, not thinking about anything, just being.  Nice.


That moment reminded me of the bliss of a morning meditation -- the internal stillness, the spaciousness, the allowing, the ease and the penultimate trust that all is well with the world and nothing at all was needed from me.


All is well.