What a weighted title, right? "This Chapter of Life".
Well, everything is weighted for me at this point. Almost, if not everything, feels more deeper in meaning than say if the "five years ago me" were to look at it. One thing I have been obsessing over is the power of connection.
I was getting my nails done, and I always walk away from my appointments with something to think about. My nail artist said, " You ever looked up at the sky and saw the clouds moving and thought, 'wow, I am on a spinning planet where the atmosphere was created in a way that I can survive in.' And we are just so casual about it"? Of course there was seriousness in the way she said it, but we both looked at each other and laughed. I followed up with "damn, that's wild." It's not because I haven't had this realization before. It's the way she said casual that magnified the point. I thought about how the presence of one thing leaves not much room for another. How the presence of casual, leaves no room for significance.
I am currently reading a book called "The Art of Gathering: How We Meet And Why It Matters" by Priya Parker. When I decide to reach for a book, it more often than not, aligns with what my current state of mind is open to or yearning for. Right now, I feel hyper-connected and still have a deep sense of disconnection with others. One page drew me in (there are many), as Priya describes her experience at a tea ceremony in Japan in which the tea master described a phrase Sen no Rikyu (sixteenth-century Japanese tea master) instilled in his students.
Ichi-go ichi-e "one meeting, one moment in your life that will never happen again" .
If I can describe to you this chapter of my life, it looks like dancing in the shower to Hiatus Kaiyote "Get Sun" while getting ready to meet girlfriends for dinner. It looks like scanning my body after having small talk and realizing how much I clam up. It looks like journaling about it and realizing that social anxiety is real when I place myself in rooms I don't want to be in out of politeness. It looks like no more of that, coupled with "no thank you". It looks like eating Tagliatelle Bolognese with my eyes closed. It looks like saying "I love you" when I mean it and as often as I can. It looks like balling in tears while watching season 1, episode 5 of Pachinko when Sunja cries after realizing Kyunghee washed the smell of home out of her clothes. It looks like booking the flight. It looks like co-creating with the Creator while knowing I know nothing at all. It looks like when Spirit says "jump" I'll ask 'how high?'. It looks like breathing on my own accord. Most importantly, it is significant.
Lets come together and make an oath. If we fall victim to these thoughts, these moments when it seems like nothing miraculous or significant is happening in our lives, to remind each other to take a moment to look up at the sky.
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