Serenity

Nope. Sorry. Not about the ship. That's just my hook for this post.

I people watch. There are an infinite number of things to notice about someone and I use the few opportunities I have to just watch people living their lives. When I work downtown, I ride the subway for part of the journey and those times where I don't close my eyes to keep the world out of my mind, I watch people. There are a lot of different kinds of people out there. Most are just trying to get through the day without going too crazy with the pressures of life. Many are absorbed in videos or reading on their phones or devices. It has crossed my mind more than once that some of the people riding with me have committed or are capable of committing horrible crimes against their fellow man, but I need to slough that off as part of the human condition.

I want to focus on the good of people. We are all jammed into this train car and for the most part, really are behaving ourselves. A lot of "Excuse Me" and "Sorry" type phrases are used. I am reminded at those times that for the most part, we are decent people to each other. We are social critters and we know we all need each other to some degree so it is best to be kind to one another.

At times, a particular person catches my eye. It can be for a lot of reasons. Perhaps something unique about their face or actions draws me in. On a recent trip, I was at a far end of the car and looking down the length of the seating area. It was a full car, as usual for that time of day. Sitting facing me was a woman, probably in her late twenties. It wasn't just her beauty, or her youth that caught my attention, but I would have felt justified if those were the only reasons I noticed her. She was dark-skinned. Maybe Indian? Hispanic? I have a hard time discerning some of those details. Her face was devoid of those lines that age and worry produce in people that are long on this earth, She didn't do anything of any peculiar note. She was just sitting there, listening to some device like so many others. (And considering how noisy the subway can be, I wonder how anyone can listen to anything without blowing out their eardrums over time. I gave up that activity some time ago.) What I noticed with her was her calm. Her grace. Her face was serene. Occasionally a brief, small smile was shown on her lips. I was fascinated with her demeanor. I found it hard to avert my gaze, but I had to. I didn't think anyone wanted to be glared at by some 50-year-old creeper.

I watched her leave the car along with me on my stop. I wanted to step up to her and say "Hi", if for nothing but to hear what voice would come from someone so seemingly at peace, if only for the moments of a subway ride with 40 or so complete strangers. I didn't though. I don't want to cause anyone discomfort. I noticed her brown raincoat and black, stylish boots. She stepped on the escalator and I will most likely never see her again. I thought about why this was such a profound thing to me. My day wasn't particularly hectic. I really didn't have any feelings about things whatsoever but I realize from that moment the attraction that many in this world have with meditation. The calm smile of someone can produce such feelings that adoration might be the natural result.

To be fair, I'm drawn to people at times for very different reasons. I have listened to a couple speaking arabic and the inflection of their voices was transfixing. I have watched college students where the man was clearly crushing hard on the woman sitting next to him. I watched one woman of Italian heritage talking to her friends returning from a trip into the city and being fascinated with their retelling of their adventures. She was amazing with her descriptive language and gestures. It is also at these times where I find racism or ethnocentrism so hard to understand. I have had my life enriched by people of other cultures. No, sometimes they don't act too friendly, but my culture hasn't acted too friendly in the past or present either.

It is quite a world we live in. I hope you find some joy in it as I have.


P.S. I found a youtube video that shows my subway route. I ride from Rosemont to Clinton. That's about 5:30 to 45:00 marks in the video. You can really move a lot of people in a train and it is quite a bit faster than trying to drive it, especially at the times I ride. The highway is usually a slow-moving parking lot when I ride it.