Connected

Last week I had a meeting with a friend of mine..We met after work, in the afternoon, on a cold cold day.  While I was waiting for her, in the tram stop, I started to examine the people around me.  I was just standing there, like an outsider, and here are the results of my "research".  The lights by the pedestrian crossing turn to green every 3 minutes..the trams come every let's say 10 minutes...yet, everyone was in a rush...but so much that I was really taken aback by looking this..this mass of people, everyone hurrying..mothers pulling after themselves their kids, people tripping over the rails of the tramlines...I started to think...what urges them, what forces them to be in such a hurry...I mean...I understand that after a long day at work, they would like to be at home early, cook some supper, prepare for bed and so on..but I am not sure, that if they act like this on the streets, and they are able to frustrate themselves if they miss a tram (what then? the next one comes in 10 minutes, and this 10 minutes they could spend on looking at the sky, or think about their days or whatever) then at home they can change completely and put aside the hussles of the city, work etc...well...I could be wrong, but all I'm saying is that this kind of behaviour was not favoured by me...especially because from the outside it looked so automatic..as if the street lamp had the power of a God and could control/turn upside down people's feelings...when the light was green, everyone started to run, not caring if they run into another person, some swearing, some saying sorry..and then comes yellow, then people start to run even faster..and finally red, and everyone sighs..and becomes impatient..should we really allow a simple street light to affect our mood and temper...like it seemed to do on this fine afternoon? 

When my friend arrived we headed to a nice little teahouse, where we took off our shoes and sat down.  Ordered tea, and started to talk.  One special thing in our friendship with this girl is that we do not meet often..maybe once a year, but even so we are able to pick up from where we left off.  We were not part of the same circle of friends, we met at University, and something drew us towards each other.  I cannot tell what it was, but upon seeing her I felt like I have to get to know her..some peculiar kind of light in her eyes, maybe its her energy that is radiating from her..not sure, but I just knew we cannot walk by each other and not try to get to know each other better.  I think she could have felt the same, and since then, even though we are not at University any more and we both have our own lives, we meet occasionally, and have a great time together.  Strangely enough it seems like that we come to a certain stage in our inner development at the same time.  We started to talk, and it turned out, that she is trying to find answers for the same questions which bug me lately too...her reasons are different but the questions and alternatives that could serve as solutions are very similar to mine...so it is very refreshing to talk to her, to hear her experiences because I can identify with them so much, and vice versa she understands my doubts, theories, feelings...When I am with her, I am truly myself, and I feel like she sees right down to my soul...she can have a clear vision, I cannot blindfold her with my many "masks"...We spent there more than 3 hours, but it all felt like half an hour...I learned a lot, we discussed, that we feel like certain "shocks" are needed to wake us up, to guide us and direct us to where we need to go...obviously these shocks are not pleasant, but seems like they cannot be avoided..moreover they prevent us from getting lazy...When everything is OK, it is much more difficult to think..to reflect upon where we are heading..we might feel that something is not right, but then as everything seems to be just fine on the surface we get rid of this inner warning...and we go on...without developing...but then if a shock comes, there is no way of neglecting it...it brings with itself sadness, a feeling of dispair, which needs to be delt with...then you need to look inside you and find your way of overcoming it....it's a tough road, but I felt like I was given some extra strength, which could help me climb the mountain ahead of me...Thanks so much G!