Some things in life are supposed to be easy—a walk in the park, as they say. I guess it’s a matter of perspective. I know this picture is beautiful and inviting—a place where you’d rather spend your day than most other places, but to some of us, we see long shadows, branches like tentacles looming overhead, the coming night, and the sense of walking away. Heavy, hardened hearts see some things, beautiful as they may be, as reminders—not of how ugly things can be, but how empty beautiful things are, absent the love that makes us appreciative, reverent, whole.
I walk by strangers engulfed and entrenched in lives they weren’t meant to live. I fall into the human trap where I imagine them in comforts all my own, thinking those material things will somehow change their lives. They won’t. Drop a thousand dollars into the hands of any one of us—will it change our lives? In dire circumstances, it may delay some consequence—one we likely deserve and will face again in short time. Even a hefty sum, like $10,000, doesn’t qualify as “life-changing” for most. Really, what does it do but temporarily afford the trappings of life which we call “comfortable,” when in the heavy, hardened hearts of the tunnel, such trappings are still held as empty?
What’s missing, beyond the soft bed, steady job, and a lockable front door, is the kindness, the humanity, the warmth, the love—the wholeness that comes with even the simplest connections. For years, I looked away from that guy in the median, eye contact meant connection, and connection meant obligation. Obligation means complication, and who needs that, am I right? Risk is frightful. Fear is powerful. Avoidance—disconnection—is simple.
Today, I find that a nod and smile are often far more valuable than a couple of bucks passed through the crack in the armor—the open window. It’s not just his humble smile and returned nod that tells me this, but the recognition, within myself, that the process is no longer feared but treasured. The eye contact still means connection, but the complication is a small price to pay for the kindness, humanity, warmth, and love that makes us whole—not just as individuals, but as communities, as societies, as cultures—but let’s face it, more importantly, as individuals. As I said, it’s all a matter of perspective.
It’s that connection which creates a bridge—a reason to hope. It lightens and softens hearts, and injects brilliance into the world, not through the creation of beauty, but by igniting the will to perceive beauty when it’s right in front of us. A smile and a nod, a kind word, a wave—they’re powerful. They’re basic. They’re simple, like a walk in the park, but they require courage. In this simple way, you actually become the beauty they forgot how to see.
Please reach out. It means everything.