I had two conversations of note with two young men this morning. The first young man wondered if I had a hangover. “Only if you consider the day after an incredible day in nature feeling ridiculously good to be a hangover!
The second was a young man who was fundraising in a grocery store parking lot. “I just got out of jail,” he said and when I apologized for my lack of cash he said, “That’s what everyone says.”
Then I did what probably other people don’t.
I asked “What were you in for?”
“Assault,” he answered, coming closer so I could see the tattoo above his eye brow and feel more of the surly energy bouncing from his skin. “Oh, did they help you at all in there?”
“No, all I got was an assault charge. He hit me first!”
So there you have it. He was an honest guy, anyway, and he did call me ma’am, which shows me someone taught him respect and manners. At one time he was a newborn, in someone’s arms who probably didn’t think he would one day be asking for spare change in a grocery store parking lot.
“Good luck,” I told him. I meant it. I wish him well and thought about contrast. I thought about how easy it would be to get upset or angry or tumble into what a horrible place we live and why do we have such problems we didn’t used to have and then I remembered yesterday.
I spoke with these two gentlemen shortly after I made this video. Take a moment to watch it.
Now I am off to do the normal things normal adults do: chores, meals, planning for the week, finding and wearing my glasses instead of sitting here wondering where they are…
I will carry this blissed out feeling into other conversations and other experiences. recognize there is a process to it as well, not entirely one thousand percent hooray over the top hooray and… I am remembering what it feels like to be something other than sad to middling back to sad. This in and of itself feels good. It feels good.
