Finding kindred spirits in classrooms, jobs, volunteer gigs, the kids' swim team, and locker rooms is something Serena and I have in common. To connect with others is to peel away the every day layers of our lives and find meaning in what we do. It might look like we are hedonistic exercise junkies. We have found however, that it is by exercising that we cope with the stresses of life. We live charmed suburban lives for the most part. But there are days when issues with a kid or two make us want to turn our mini-vans toward the coast and head like lemmings to the sea.
There are days when venting to another soul makes us feel way better about: the highschool robot voice calling to report a child's unexplained absences in first, third, and fifth periods, and the spousal disagreement over what in the light of day seems trivial. I love being able to connect and discover a really good book, the best shoe store salesguy who can deal with "weird" feet, and to learn the good, the bad, and the hideous about local summer camps. We keep our eyes open, even underwater (love those goggles). We listen. It's amazing what you can hear when you stop to pay attention. It's amazing what you can hear when people think you are not listening.
The unexamined life is not worth living. --Socrates in Plato, Dialogues, Apology. Greek philosopher in Athens. 469 BC -399 BC
Samantha speaks the truth: eavesdropping is the ultimate power. Just the other day, I was running in the forest and overheard the following from the female part of a cute young couple pushing a baby in a stroller:
ReplyDeleteFemale companion: And another reason we should get married is...
You'll understand why it was all I could do to restrain myself from screaming, "Um, the baby in the stroller?" But perhaps it wasn't their baby. Perhaps they had borrowed someone else's and taken it out for a spin.