Hi my friend,
The heat is so unrelenting these days, that it’s quite the challenge to run errands or a marathon for that matter. Ok, a bit of a 26+ mile stretch, for I have never even entertained the thought of doing a marathon. I am truly in the presence of my spirit animal – a sloth. Even putting keystrokes together to form this post has been more of a hunt-and-peck exercise than a flowing string of words.
And this has nothing to do with what I’m thinking about.
A long long time ago, in the days B.R. (Before Retirement), I read a survey about trust. The question posed to the participants asked who they trusted more – their parents, a teacher, a religious leader, or the Internet. And yes, the majority felt that they trusted the Internet above all else. I found that very unsettling, and yet when speaking in front of a diverse audience, there was little surprise (but for the parents, for obvious reasons).
I’m sure that time has changed this result, or at least I hope it has. At the end of the day, what does the Internet offer that makes it so trusted? Algorithms – reflections of the people who offer up personal information – wittingly or otherwise. And why? Because when asked, the internet offers up unconditional support as few relationships can and this is what we’re seeking.
Here’s a few things I can tell about you – without even knowing you. You have had some difficult times in your life and you have faced those times with courage and determination; you miss someone very much and would welcome the chance to speak to them again; you are empathetic and intuitive, yet don’t suffer fools; you are protective of your family and friends; you are an incredible person…
How’d I do? These are some of the comments you will find if your curiousity makes you answer one of the FB quizzes. And for a brief moment, you’re validated in some way, It’s a little like a palm reader telling you your married and you nod with enthusiasm at her prescience, rather than acknowledging that your wedding ring was on.
And look, if knowing that your emblematic song is “I Will Survive” or “Bridge Over Troubled Water” – that’s great. Just understand that this defines all of us at some point or another..
My friend Lissie Altman (author of Poor Man’s Feast and Motherland) included the following poem Intimate Invitation by David Whyte. And yes, it moved me to tears as I was reading because at core, it articulates what we all really want. To feel that none of us are alone; that the human condition can be totally enervating and there are times when you just want to lay it all down – and that’s ok. We’re still going to be waiting for you – trust this.
You forget
how, even when
you are barely
mobile,
even when
you feel bereft
of any horizon,
and even when
without faith
you felt held back
and afraid to move
even a little,
you can still be like
the beauty
we see in winter ice
just
beginning to
break and flow.
You forget
how you can see
the brave outline
of a single leaf.
How the stream
of clouds in the sky
can run right through you.
And the sun on your skin
seems to pass right through
to some inner completion.
And because
after all this time
you live and have lived
for so long without faith
in your own joys and your own grief.
You live daily
saying ‘love’
as if it were still far away.
But come here now,
into the arms of the waiting world,
put down that heavy burden
you have carried so long
and rest
from the hard everyday labour
of not hurting,
or not feeling,
or not hearing,
or not saying
or seeing.
Stop keeping the tears at bay.
give it all up,
just come home.
And never doubt – we got you.
Sending love always, m
Waiting for the Karma Truck 