There are two phases. When I was younger, phase one, I thought everything I had to say was of vital importance. I thought I could help-the-world so I needed to be heard. And, I worked hard to be heard. Don Quixote. “A man of questionable sanity.” Now, each day, I open my site analytics and am astounded that anyone finds value in anything I have to write. Phase two in a nutshell: I am having a conversation with myself and am more and more certain that I know nothing at all.
Not knowing was once a fear. Something to mask. Now it is a certitude. A given. In fact, it is now something of a north star.
I am grateful beyond measure that you-out-there are reading this travelogue of my wandering mind. Truly. I am astonished that you actually choose to spend a few moments of your day with me. I know nothing of real value to share.
And then I remember. Each night Kerri and I watch videos made by through-hikers. Each hiker starts their journey alone and inevitably, through happenstance, finds their travel family. Each hiker-tale carries the same revelation: the real value of the trail is found in the people who walk it with them. No one cares what their companions know or do-not-know. They care that they walk with people of like mind, people who care for them as much as they care for the others in the group. They listen to each other. They create safety together. They laugh. They support. They share.
Although you show up on my screen as a number beneath a bar chart, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can’t possibly be reduced to a statistic. You are my travel companion and I am, in a small way, yours. Sancho Panza both directions. I hear you when your number pops up on my screen; I know that you hear me. It matters not what of my mind-rambling finds letters and words as long as they fly through space-time and find you. As long as your response, as small as a single click, finds me.
And that’s the healing part of the story. Always. I see you/you see me. I hear you/you hear me. I watch for you/you watch for me. It has very little to do with what we know and everything to do with what we experience together.
read Kerri’s blogpost about BEING HEARD
like. comment. share. support. thank you.
buymeacoffee is a gratitude. nothing more, nothing less.
Filed under: Family, Gratitude, Merely A Thought Monday | Tagged: artistry, cheryl richardson, companion, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Don Quixote, family, heal, healing, heard, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, listen, revelation, safety, sancho panza, sharing, story, studio melange, support, the melange, tramily, travel family, travel stories, travelogue, wanderer, wandering mind |
The Direction of Intention 
[…] read DAVID’S thoughts this MERELY-A-THOUGHT MONDAY […]
Regarding our number on your bar chart, “I knew I’d be reduced to a number” -Eeyore.
That reminds me of the surgeon a few days before he stole my mojo (prostate) as I asked him: “You have done a lot of these, I hope I’m not just a number.” He assured me that all his patients received full attention. Bother.
We’re all a superstar (as Lennon says in his song). In this day and age, I think we need to bond to those of like-mindedness. We can survive as Nowhere Man for only a short time.
Well, I gotta go put this comment on MY bar chart now. Keep your stick on the ice! We’re in this together (Red Green).
Many thanks for showing up on the bar chart. Your number, like all numbers, is unique and matters…