Vacation Reaction

The northeastern region of the United States possesses, on one hand, a myth, created by culture and entertainment, which boasts of unparalleled energy and excitement, and on the other, a stigma of detachment and loneliness, unfortunately, also unparalleled. Having visited the area on several occasions, I have experienced and felt the accompanying emotions of these two extremes.

It becomes easy to focus on the vastness and speed of living that we pass by the very people that have been specifically and carefully chosen to clutter up our path. And like clutter, it may seem easier to sweep it all under the rug and pretend it's not there, which certainly has become the norm, but here and there I begin to think that there might be something to be found in the careful process of addressing our clutter...

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealing with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal."
C.S. Lewis
The Weight of Glory