Sensitivity – otherwise known as feeling deeply – I take the cake, as I know many others do. And I feel it has grown, as I’ve been traveling solo, now, since late 2019. First to distant lands — where life didn’t feel so, in your face; ie capitalism. – of course, I was not working then, and had space to just be. To go where the rivers guided me. There was something, to non Western society, that I cannot put my finger on exactly…but it kinda reminds me of the places I’ve voyaged, now, in the deep South. Places off the grid, so to speak. Where folks don’t walk on eggshells because, well, their shells have been cracked enough. Where kindness is the very rhythm, of people’s hearts – especially in black, impoverished and what some would still name, “redneck” communities. Where I have stopped and talked at a car wash (a whole other kinda car wash — like being in your own driveway with friends) and neighborhood bbq benefits (funny day) of love and crime and all things in between. A drink, offered at no charge, just as on dirt roads in Egypt. These are the exchanges of life, that are deeply felt — I think, because they’re meaningful; honest. Maybe when others have had to learn to *get by,* have gone through hardships, are uncared for by humans in power seats, the capacity for empathy, community(neighborly) and happiness expands.(I know this is a Both/And) I also know that banners, signs and black boxes are beautiful/symbolic — but, I’m not sure if they are so impactful. Truthfully, we sometimes think we know others, before we’ve had a chance to have an encounter. We assume, as well, we know what they want and need before asking the simple and inconvenient questions. I have tears now, feeling into, the way we have treated and are treating one other – The way we take on life and the humans in it, as if there is something to conquer/divide. Currently. The shaming. Punishment. Pretending. I do not not think it’s so much a system’s overhaul that we need, but an emotional one. A capacity to see, hear, leave our bubble. To stop for awhile, sit on a bucket. Elsewhere – and say, “So tell me.”
Medicinal Conversations 