What are you going through?

~ Live & Learn

All around me were strangers. I knew no one. And as far as I knew, no one had any idea what I was dealing with….As I turned away and stared at the Pacific Ocean through the little window from my seat on the plane, I was left with a bunch of grief and two big questions. What burdens are all the people on this plane carrying? And how would I treat them differently if I knew?

~ Carl Richards, from “Ask Yourself This: What Burdens Is That Other Person Carrying?”

 

Post title and post Inspired by: “I remember reading some works of Simone Veil, a French woman who lived in France during the war and she said there’s only one question worth asking anybody and that question is, “What are you going through?” ~Leonard Cohen, From Leonard Cohen interview With Stina Dabrowski (Thank you Make Believe Boutique)

28 thoughts on “What are you going through?”

  1. All too easy to get lost in one’s own ‘head space’ and forget that everyone is struggling with something. I know that I am guilty of getting caught up in my own day-to-day crap. I try to pinch myself when I get too myopic. Happy Friday, pal. Hope it’s a good one!

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    1. Yes. Your thought reminds me of this passage:

      “I hope that in the future they invent a small golden light that follows you everywhere and when something is about to end, it shines brightly so you know it’s about to end.

      And if you’re never going to see someone again, it’ll shine brightly and both of you can be polite and say, “It was nice to have you in my life while I did, good luck with everything that happens after now.”

      And maybe if you’re never going to eat at the same restaurant again, it’ll shine and you can order everything off the menu you’ve never tried. Maybe, if someone’s about to buy your car, the light will shine and you can take it for one last spin. Maybe, if you’re with a group of friends who’ll never be together again, all your lights will shine at the same time and you’ll know, and then you can hold each other and whisper, “This was so good. Oh my God, this was so good.””

      ~ Iain Thomas, “The Light That Shines When Things End” in I Wrote This For You And Only You ( Published December 20th 2011 by Central Avenue Publishing)

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  6. Having a job tuning into people’s energy everyday, I often feel the heavy burdens of people sitting next to me, no matter where I am. It’s in more people than we like to think, however, sending love and light to them while we are near them is easy, and we never know how it might help them.. 🌈🙏🏻

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    1. You and Nepo. Same.

      “Effort is the snail inching along, while grace is the current that lifts it from the suction of its path. Effort is keeping the break in our heart open, while grace is the light of everything not broken washing the break clean.

      Half of the soul’s work is to be. The other half is to be of use. It’s in our nature to try with all our heart, at everything and anything, until we chance to inhabit grace and come alive. And being so alive, we become a conduit for life and a resource for others…The soul’s work is ever-present, if we can put down everything that gets in the way.

      ~Mark Nepo, The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your Heart (Simon and Schuster, Jul 19, 2016)

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  8. I am quite fully aware of the fact that my minor bothers are really a big NOTHING in comparison to everybody else’s.
    If I have learned ONE single thing during my time here in Paris region, it’s that our perceptions of what burdens our next neighbour/worker/subway-user/standing-in-line person is most likely totally wrong. So many impressions I had of what that person is/should be/might convey with their behaviour were fundamentally wrong because I live on another planet, emotionally, culturally, and educationally too….. We live and learn. All our life!

    Oh, hasn’t somebody said that already? 😉

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  11. Oh David, look what you inspired today! We’re ALL lifted up to allowing more of our urge to love and care come to our surface…I get to see my grandson (who is now 20) for lunch [he moved across the country 7 years ago], a rare opportunity to be with this loved guy–I will ask at some point “what are you going through?” but usually don’t have to ask–we have that deep love going back through so much…including sitting for hours playing with his tomy truck…

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