Through this series of long wandering talks, brief momentary encounters, and endless pondering I came to appreciate the value of people - and myself. We all have hurts, fears, stresses, joys, and victories. Some people I talked to were scared, lonely. Others were exuberant, carefree. The former far and away outnumbered the latter, by the way. We talked about family, work, health, love, home ... basically anything anyone would talk to or listen to me about.
Sometimes I felt brave talking about my life. Sometimes I wanted to be brave for them as I listened to others talk about their lives. Most of the conversations I had weren't about giving or receiving advice - they were merely about connecting, each person having someone to listen to whatever needed to be said or heard.
I'm coming out of a long, hard to walk road with better sense of self and purpose, stronger, yet more vulnerable, aware of my surroundings and at peace. In all the connections made, places visited, and memories captured I identified some areas I want to work on as I continue shedding the layers of "hoodies" I piled on my emotional self. I was reminded that I am not alone in my oh-so-human experience on this spinning blue and green globe and that connecting with others is life giving.
