Only Connect

Do you ever walk down a busy street or into a busy room and feel completely alone? Well, if you answered no then you must be Snow White... or lying. There are times when I can be in a room full of my friends and yet they could be speaking yiddish and I wouldn't be able to communicate any better with them. This flaw is a fault neither my own or theirs but rather a flaw in the innate being of humanity... I believe. Because it is only in this loneliness that reach up or we reach over. I think that in these rare moments of aloneness we seek familiarity in what we can. Yesterday, I was reading a book that I had just found at a thrift store, in the back written in pencil was a quote by Henry Thorough quote

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

In a strange way this made me feel completely connected to a stranger. I imagine that this quote is in the back of the book because they couldn't find paper since it is broken up, however I felt connected. Someone out there could be feeling how I feel. They could be searching for more. To some this seems like a silly thought, but for a few of you out there you know what I am talking about. It happens in the random moments of life. It can be when you are rocking out in your car to look over and see the person next to you rocking out to the same song, sitting on an airplane and looking over to see that you are reading the same book as your neighbor, or seeing someone else who is wearing TOMS. I look at these opportunities as a way to not only realize how connected I am to everyone but rather how this came to be. Look for joys in the little things and for rare moments remember that you are not alone. We struggle and stride through each day... with strength not our own.