My past two weeks of living have been nomadic in nature. I made it my mission to get out, stay busy and keep moving forward as a curious and thirsty extrovert. I divided my time two ways. One–to spend some time with the people who are close to me, and two–do a little localized traveling to re-connect with people I have not seen in years. You know what? It has been an amazing experience!
I should have found more time to do this in my daily routine, but I thought was something I was far too busy for. What came from it was very meaningful. For the people who are already close, the bond of friendship and love was reinforced. And those people I have not seen in a while? Know that the time spent together were hour long encounters over coffee or lunch. As brief as they were, they became some of the most enlightening moments in my life to date. I equate them emotionally to the opening eye sequence of the Blade Runner 2049. Fade in from darkness to a brilliant emerald-colored eye as it opens in unison to the bellowing moan of a haunting musical score. Bam—you are instantly pushed into a foreign, brutal but beautiful new world.
Why this has been enlightening to me?
The selfless nature of people: Of the people I reached out to, 98% responded and found time in their busy schedules to get together, share their stories and offer up guidance and thoughts in future life pursuits. It optimistically restored my faith in people as beautiful, caring souls.
Their unique stories: Diverse perspectives and rich stories of their lives were shared. Through them, I felt all of joy, sadness, stability, disruption, excitement, frustration, success and hardship that we all go through in life. After listening, I felt more alive, more awake, more grateful for the gift of life itself.
Friendships. Patterns, not answers: I went on this journey with the idea I could re-connect and perhaps answer some big questions going on in my own life. What I got in return surprised me. While the fulfillment of re-kindling old friendships was fulfilled, the questions stayed unanswered. Instead of finite answers, I saw relatable patterns based on each person's values, beliefs and approaches to how they lived their lives and how mine did or did not compare. The gift of these rich and diverse stories is emotionally deeper and perhaps when more substantial to living. Something that will take some time for me to process and unpack.
The meaning of Change: As I've always been a believer in professional change as something healthy and good, in my private life, I've always tried to approach it on my terms only. How foolish I've been at times in trying to control and dictate it when it occurs. That's not how it works. Change is a dynamic force like entropy. If you don't enact change, well... at least when it decides to hit you. That is the moment when it thrusts into chaos. Know this, about chaos. We can be an equal or opposite force that once change is in play, and through some conscious effort we can declare a sense of agency to make it an opportunity. Or don't… and let our most destructive, unconscious fears overwhelm us.
Time moves forward. The interviews continue. The journey of my enlightenment through living is my sherpa.