The World Traveler

"Artist 1210"

As you travel along this bustling world, take a look around.

Observe the myriad of humans sharing this planet with us.

Watch them wrestling from list to list, from place to place…

Notice the varying shapes, sizes, mannerisms, and personalities. The scowls, smiles, and laughs, some are loud and obnoxious, while others cute and contagious.

How do people carry themselves? Some are draped in camouflage invisibly roaming about as sly as a fox. Others on the catwalk their life's a stage, and they are cast in the leading role!

Peer closer at the expressions on the many faces. Some schlepp the burden of their suffering everywhere they go, while others take a lighter approach and leave their baggage at home. Some hide out in corners with a mischievous grin, you get the feeling they are up to something. Some are in your face, boisterous and jolly, while others haul around a tight and rigid grimace.

How do people get around? Some on foot, some on bikes, some wait for the bus. Some ride in dented cars with no hubcaps or bumpers. Some glide in cars sleek as a mirror, shiny, reflective and grand.

How do people clothe themselves? Some in slippers, stained shirts, and wrinkled pants. Some wouldn't be caught dead in anything less than pristine, sharp and smelling fresh. Some use their clothing to stand out in rebellion, some suit up desperate to fit in.

Notice the way in which people interact with others. You have the humble, patient and courteous kinds, wise, taking their time, they know life is no rush to a finish line. There are the self-important types, whose time is more valuable than others, rushing around commanding the check out isles. You have the pushovers who think so little of themselves, that everyone else comes before them.

These individuals have been grown and raised in many types of families, experiences, challenges and joys.

Think of their ancestors, the stories, the traditions and values kept and passed down. Some traditions were lost along the way. While others held tightly reinforced through discipline and repetition.

Think about the multitude of beliefs people carry, influenced by school teachers, the media, peers and parents. Some of which are limited and shortsighted, some have a broad width.

Some humans are inclusive and welcoming, others are reclusive, and callus. Some are raging hot, energized and on fire, others are calm, cool and mellow. Some breathe compassion, while others could care less.

Take a look at how people choose to live. Some prefer a comfortable life wading the surface, taking no real risks or having any interest in depth. They like to keep their conversations light, talking about what they had for dinner, or the dress they will be wearing to the party.

Some people dive head first into life, triple flipping into the unknown with excitement, and folly. Marveling over any opportunity to veer off the beaten path, and blaze a trail.

Look at how people maintain their households, and how they interact with their family members.

Some households are cozy and cohesive, as the inner worlds of the family members merge. A safe space where vulnerability means strength, and closeness, love and connection are the prime focus. They dance and grow together through fights and difficult emotions, through the highs and lows of hormones, stress, and money worries. They support each other and stick together through thick and thin.

Or the frosty households, precise and organized, eerily clean and hostpitalike, not one fingerprint on the window, not a speck of dust or lint in sight. These homes are both aesthetically and aromatically pleasing, yet each family member lives in a different galaxy, foreigners to each other. They hide behind outward “perfection” and mask their feelings. Underneath they are ashamed of their humanity and terrified of vulnerability. It’s awkward and strange, hard to relax, everyone can feel the elephant in the room, even the outsiders, but nobody dares to say a word.

Some homes loom with grief and disappointment. Peppered with generational trauma and dysfunction that runs agonizingly deep. The air is saturated in darkness and despair, unresolved pain and resentment.

Some houses are filled with chaos, having no borders or boundaries. Each member is competing to become the dominant ruler of the household. Charged with anger, rage and violence, repressed frustration and friction. Yelling and tearing eachother down year after year until everyone’s spirits are broken, and nobody wins.

Some homes are empty. These family members left a long time ago, they are busy being slaves to money and trapped in greed. They have exchanged their time, their families and their life to feel important. Their value is based solely on how much material possessions they have acquired. They are always wanting more but are never satisfied, an itch that can’t be scratched, a top that can never be hit.

Some Households are naturally balanced. Equal parts of work with play, creativity and math, clean but not perfect, strong yet gentle.

Some people don’t have a house at all, some only a tent, or a sleeping bag. Many of these souls are tormented and tortured, thier spirits residing a million miles away from thier bodies. They dance around the streets as if they are puppets, unable to control their screams. Some are imprisoned by drugs, a habit gone too far, too long. These folks may never be able to make it back to what they once considered to be normal.

Think of all the souls entering and leaving the world at this very moment, the realness of life and the magnificence of its great mystery, which remains hidden from us, for reasons we don’t know.

We are all alive, and that is a gift, or to some a curse. Life is experienced differently and uniquely by everyone. Not one of us truly knows what we are doing, and if people act like they do, they are bluffing. Sometimes we puff up and act too big for our britches and sometimes we cower, shrinking ourselves too small. From above we look like ants. To the ants we are giants.

What a glorious sonnet of movement and expression, the bass, the sax, the piano, the low drum beats, the high notes, the soft tones. We are all bits and pieces of all of this.

Next time you venture into this big world, take a look around. What you witness may shock you, bless you, or perhaps you may feel a tug on your heart strings, or you may even become appalled and disapprovingly angry by what you see.

No matter what you feel, how you look, or who you are at any given moment…be that, and enjoy the ride!