Looking out from my third floor flat , out over the lights of small town England. The lights, the quiet, the peace; a wave of humility hits me, a spontaneous connection to the human family and I cast my mind to what may be happening at this very moment, elsewhere in the world.
Somewhere in the world at this moment are people getting killed, robbed , raped. Somewhere someone is getting told they have a terminal illness and their days are numbered, their cards marked for a slow and painful slide to stop.
Some lucky folk somewhere in this world are falling in love, getting laid, experiencing parenthood.
Perhaps at this moment someone is going blind, consigned to a future of darkness,confusion and discrimination.
Right now some one somewhere is cursing God (god or gods?) whilst another is praising Him (or Her/Them?).
Somewhere, at this moment, someone is being abused. Their basic human rights are being violated as I stand here. Perhaps they are a child, a woman, old or young.
At this moment people with the hope of a better life are stranded in the Sahara desert because the truck they hired to smuggle them to a new life in the west just broke down and by morning they would be dead – of thirst, slow and painful.
There are so many scenarios of what could be happening at this moment. For sure death, loss , love, joys and sorrows are certainly being experienced. To what extent and whether they are in balance is entirely something else.
An emotional overload, the sheer quantity of possibilities and the emotion contained in each is so overwhelming. Somehow it feels like if I just listened hard enough or made myself feel it strongly enough, I could somehow experience a deep connection with each person.
There is no logic for it , certainly medicine would find a name for it (if you can name it, you can treat it n’est pas?). I cannot explain why I felt this, but I’m glad I did.
(to be continued)