Today during my afternoon walk, I found my mind wandering around on the topic of people. I'm not really sure what started this train of thought, but as soon as it took off I knew it was going to be an interesting journey. One of the potential goals that Rory and I have during the course of the TCP is to really get to know interesting people. When I read that last sentence, I'm struck by just how absurd it is because everyone, and I mean everyone I've ever met is endlessly fascinating and interesting. There is absolutely no need to walk from Newport, RI to Newport, OR in order to meet interesting people.
In fact, just today on a less than four mile walk, I encountered a seemingly endless variety of humanity. To describe them would be a deceit because frankly I know very little about any of them apart from their outward physical appearance. This shallowest of surface views would be an injustice to even attempt to articulate when dealing with beings so complex that a single individual would be impossible to completely characterize if one took a lifetime attempting the task.
As I walked near these people, I found myself inventing narratives about what they were thinking and speculating as to why they did certain things that I saw. I created whole cloth out of the imaginings in my head narratives to describe what I saw. The traveller in the straw hat and blue shirt, the group of three friends headed back from their lunch, the lone thinker dealing with a particularly vexing issue in the park, the crane rigger heading back to work in a slightly weary way after a lunch break that was far too short, the Navy boys collaborating to implement the latest submarine design, the man walking in the floral print hat that his late wive had given him, the couple visiting Washington and not really enjoying their afternoon because of a late season uptick in heat, the Peace Corps volunteer returning from his latest assignment in Panama, and the lonely woman out walking her dogs and hoping for just the slightest contact from another of her fellow travellers.
In fact, just today on a less than four mile walk, I encountered a seemingly endless variety of humanity. To describe them would be a deceit because frankly I know very little about any of them apart from their outward physical appearance. This shallowest of surface views would be an injustice to even attempt to articulate when dealing with beings so complex that a single individual would be impossible to completely characterize if one took a lifetime attempting the task.
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| A sampling of the people I encountered on my walk today. |
As I walked near these people, I found myself inventing narratives about what they were thinking and speculating as to why they did certain things that I saw. I created whole cloth out of the imaginings in my head narratives to describe what I saw. The traveller in the straw hat and blue shirt, the group of three friends headed back from their lunch, the lone thinker dealing with a particularly vexing issue in the park, the crane rigger heading back to work in a slightly weary way after a lunch break that was far too short, the Navy boys collaborating to implement the latest submarine design, the man walking in the floral print hat that his late wive had given him, the couple visiting Washington and not really enjoying their afternoon because of a late season uptick in heat, the Peace Corps volunteer returning from his latest assignment in Panama, and the lonely woman out walking her dogs and hoping for just the slightest contact from another of her fellow travellers.
All of those thoughts seemed very plausible, and some of the even took on the characteristics of being reality. I haven't the faintest idea if any of those small fictions were close to their reality, but I know that they were very much a part of my own. The fact that my thoughts, however unknown to these people, had somehow become a part of their reality and at least in part were manifested upon them by me almost automatically was a sobering realization.
There are aspects of our collective separateness as well as clear evidence of our oneness that I find mind bendingly powerful.
I'm grateful for these people and the richness they added to my day.
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