“The best teacher is experience and not through someone’s distorted point of view”
― Jack Kerouac
Each moment is an experience. We interact with others or with just ourselves and the potential for learning or hitting that sweet spot of connection with the all is ever present. It’s true that there are distortions in any medium. We talk about ourselves with fading memory with viewpoints half formed and inexact forms of communication. The surprise lies not in the fact that we misunderstand what we hear but that communication happens at all. Yet it does which to me means on some level we must want to communicate. We want to share our lives as clearly as possible and we want to feel the sharing of others. Yet when that sharing is inauthentic we know it.
One of the things I pray for is the ability to be as clear and open as it is possible for me to be in my writing, speech and perception. In that way, each person’s experience becomes part of my tapestry and I can share in theirs.
Blessings, G
“There’s nothing in the human heart or mind, no place no matter how twisted or secret, that can’t be endured – if you have someone to share it with.”
― Spider Robinson
I’ve heard it said that so strong is the need to share that prisoners in solitary will name insects and talk to them as pets just as a way to externalize what has been bottled up for so long. Given my nature, I would do that (heck I even used to name the lobsters my sister would bring home to cook for my parents, until she made me put them in the pot for her but that’s another tale altogether) tho given my nature, i would probably either bring along imaginary friends or find new ones. Still I see this point even more in its absence. It’s when we feel isolated, when we feel ourselves unable to share what we carry inside that the difficulty lies. Each of us can make a difference by reaching out to those who seem too isolated and by being there as we can when we can. Sometimes just having someone to share with can make all the difference in the world. Being there for other people also cuts down on our own isolation for how often can you hear someone sharing their most intimate selves without sharing at least a bit of our own as well? In addition, the more we can open ourselves up to people the more our capacity for compassion grows so there are benefits all around.
Blessings, G
“By sharing something, I realize that I’m not alone, that there are a lot of people that share with me the same preoccupations, the same ideas, the same ideals and the same quest for a meaning for this life.”
— Paulo Coelho
Sometimes lonely but never alone. How can I be when there are so many sharing the journey with me? Oh they walk their own paths but more often than not paths intersect and I am joined by wondrous beings. Some of them are caught up in struggles as I have been, as I will be and if I can help I do for interaction and mutual aid are key on this journey. Sometimes a kind word can mean everything. Sometimes the best intentioned of help is rebuffed. That’s ok, trying to force another to accept help is a sucker’s game tho sometimes they may curse us now and bless us afterwards. Retroactive consent is part of the journey as well.
Blessings, G
“If I can see pain in your eyes then share with me your tears. If I can see joy in your eyes then share with me your smile.”
― Santosh Kalwar
I have so much to be grateful to the universe for. One of the biggest is that if I sense someone truly in pain around me, I will stop and listen and help if I can. I have worked hard to take as my creed the idea that “shared pain is lessened, shared joy increased”. At times, when friends on FB contact me or call me with problems, I find myself impatient but then quite often I feel the sheer need to connect that is there and I force myself. I don’t feel this is an ego thing as much as a way I’ve been given to serve and I am thankful for it. Of course I love the other half of the equation as well. I love to laugh, joke and share humour and it is expanded. It makes me hope that no matter what I share, pain, joy or both that I am authentic when I do so.
Blessings, G
Storm Queen by G A Rosenberg 
