Lately, I've been thinking a lot about connectedness. I'm alone 99% of the time. I'm not married, I have no children, I work at home so I don't have colleagues, I don't have any friends that live near by, etc. I'm alone most of the time. I've thought about that a lot lately and I've come to realize that I'm not alone. Physically, yes, I'm alone, but I don't feel that way. The people who have come into my life (and seemly gone from it) are still with me. The affect me constantly.
A few months ago one of my sisters emailed someone we both knew over 20 years ago. One day I get an instant message from her taunting me that she has a "secret". I tell her to SPILL IT and after she's had her fun taunting me about it, she tells me that she emailed this person and has received a response. In this response this person expressed how much of an impact I had on their life. My sister was like, "Isn't that cool?! I'll bet you had no idea!" I told her I was and wasn't surprised. Many, many times I have thought about people I haven't seen in decades and my sister confessed to having had the same experience. We both agreed that these people would probably be very surprised that we still think about them.
There are MANY people in my life. I may not physically interact with many of them any more, but they still affect me. I'm alone, but not. You see? I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
The other night as I was making beads I thought about someone I never actually knew. She was a psychologist who worked in the same building as I did when I was an undergrad at EDU. One day while at work, I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I was in a stall when this psychologist woman came in. I finished up and went back to the office. As I walk through the door, I'm laughing. Sue Ickes, a woman who worked with me at the time, is sitting at her desk. She asks me what's so funny. I then ask her, "Have you ever been in the bathroom with that dark haired psychologist that works down the hall?" Sue says with a half smile, "Yeah..." Then I say something like, "Um, have you ever noticed anything odd about her? You know, in the bathroom?" Sue starts to laugh. I say, "Don't you think she pees really loud?" She agrees. We laugh and wonder out loud to each other WHY someone would pee like this woman pees! It was impressive (I guess!). I called her the Power Peer!! Anyway, so I'm torching the other night and I'm thinking about this interesting encounter I had years ago with a woman I never knew and I'm laughing OUT LOUD!
This very confident pisser woman, whoever she is, still affects me. She still has me laughing! Over Thanksgiving my brother-in-law's "windsock booby demo" made me laugh out loud too. Both experiences were funny but one came from a woman I never knew 10 years ago while the other was with a family member and occurred recently. Both people had a similar affect on me in my life RIGHT NOW. I don't think people realize how much they affect one another -- initially and continuously. I certainly didn't until I noticed it in my own life. Not sure why I'm saying all this. I'm thankful, I guess, and want to express that. You may think your interactions with one another or with me are insignificant, but they ARE NOT. To all of you, THANK YOU!
3 weeks ago














































