Perhaps there was something in the air

You know how sometimes it is said that “there’s something in the air” and its like there’s a feeling, an indescribable energy...a discrepancy of some kind? That’s how today felt all around me. 

An accidental phone call from a friend who is grieving, a missed lunch date with friends whose lives are spinning. A frantic man whose mouth got the better of him. Another frantic man who has reached his breaking point.  A distraught woman who has been taken back to her earliest vulnerabilities. Another woman, depressed and detached and simply not engaging.

Later, another man doing his best not to give in to fear of failure and elsewhere, a woman hungover as she drank too much and missed her pal. It was like life had spilled over and the air was full of pain and confusion. 

At the newsagents along the way, a mother shouted at her weeping child as she begged her to just stop crying and go and eat her food. She seemed a bit harsh to me yet after listening, I reviewed my view. It turns out the woman is caring for a critically sick father in law, has two jobs, three children who are off school and now there’s water coming through the light in the ceiling. She wept as she kissed her child and took a moment to serve a lonely man on crutches, coming in to buy cider and a chocolate bar. He said he didn’t need help with the door this week. She said she hadn’t brushed her hair in days. 

Returning to the sanctuary of my own space, I am struck by the enormity of life and it’s insignificance. A year from now, will any of these dramas matter? Will we ever understand how it is that we were bothered by this stuff? Will we ever get over the pain of losing loved ones?  And is it always better to feel the pain and to know that all times pass? Many questions. Fewer answers. 

Each of the struggling people felt a tiny bit better for being able to speak and be listened to and it is this that keeps it all moving isn’t it? Friendship. The kindness of strangers. Being heard. Being seen. Tiny moments. The ebbs and flows of energy on a moody day when there’s something in the air. 

I’ve felt many of the feelings that I came across today. Some of them passed and others I carry daily. All have shaped who I am. The air is no different really. It’s all about the mindset and the connections with others.

#hahalalareflections💖💫