NB: I’m not looking for anyone to actually share those moments or experiences here if they are too deeply personal. And, please, let’s keep any answers SFW since this is a forum for the general public.
What was something recently that made you stop and recognize that you are both only a tiny part of a vast universe but also interconnected with the world around you?
Perhaps it was a sunset. Or an afternoon in the park. Maybe a book, song, or film touched your heart and left you awestruck by the power of a shared experience.
Or, maybe you meditated over your morning beverage and felt that thrill of creation as you wrote.
I feel like I often move through my day narrating my activities as though I’m the voiceover in a film. As a writer, that’s likely because I’m regularly previewing dialogue or thinking about using that beat-up old car I just saw in a story.
I love those moments that break me out of that internal dialogue and make me feel connected something outside myself. With all the distractions, those moments aren’t as frequent as I’d like. And, I think my writing suffers when I miss those moments.
I’m posting this as a reminder to myself to turn off that narrator and actually see the world around me a bit more often. So, if you have a favorite way to refill that well, what is it?
The time I realised the universe had a sick sense of humour and I didn’t want to be its friend anymore was when I learnt about the sad passing of (forum regular) Montrée Whiles.
It’s not the question you asked but the things that are popular to the majority (tv, social media, music, movies…)? really makes me feel disconnected from humanity. That some people think that standing still is a job is alien to me. Crowds of people in Covent Garden staring at the people standing stand and giving them money makes me feel very detached. I accidentally clicked on the “popular right now” button on the YouTube app once and realised the world is packed full of morons…
…but then I’ll travel to the other side of the world and spend the weekend hanging out with someone with a completely different background to me and have a great time. These moments tell me that you just have to find the people who resonate on a sympathetic frequency to you. Those people are everywhere if you remember to keep looking.
I just went to the Saint Louis Art Museum. I saw Chagall, Picasso, Seurat, Richter–art I had seen for decades–but this time I was was overcome with the skill and perception behind the art. It was joyous.
They do - that’s the fence around the cabin that serves as my office. They know if they wait there and look winsome I’ll open the gate and give them a treat or two.
