Single
and attractive Cathy owned the home next door and, in Delta
parlance, we would say she worked 5 on/2 off as a busy publishing
executive. She entertained, she traveled, and she had an ATL
boyfriend who dropped down on the weekend. While I was perpetually
bedraggled on the daily little-child hamster wheel, a stylish and
well-heeled Cathy breezed in and out. I never worked out her age
because she was older than I and, at the time, all those
numbers were nebulous to me anyhow. She had a career and a social
life, and she always looked terrific. It was like a Martian
lived beside us.
Just
like the beach house, the naps, the wagon, and, sadly, the sippy
cups went away. Time flew by, and the little three-year-old
and the five-year-old achieved enough birthdays to make
them semi-adults, now living it up away in college. And, just the
other day, I had a miniature Damascus Road moment, realizing I
can perhaps have a go at the Cathy lifestyle. It was a very startling
thought.
In
order to try for gliding in my life, I had to go back 22+ years to
consider what exactly I did with
my pre-children self. Committed to the Delta jets three days a
week meant I went a lot of places--with old friends and
new--served up on a silver platter known as the
jumpseat. Every work day delivered all
sorts of people in vast and far-flung locales with
effortless social interaction included in the deal, all
down to show up and sign in.
And
in the world of children there was little opportunity to ever be
lonely or bored. All along the way, we were in countless beneficial
situations meeting new friends—both little and grown--through
school, church, and sports. William and Annabelle provided a ticket
into worlds filled with fantastic people, and these experiences
continue to pay dividends to this very day. Again, it all unfolded by
simply walking out the door.
So now I
have to sort out how to drag these two best parts
of the past up here into the future. Somewhere along the way, social
media was crowned king and can easily fool me with the illusion
of interacting with others brought by this way of signing in. I
don't have to get dressed up (at all), and I can quasi-socialize to
my heart's content from my
sofa.
The crazy
thing about this modern life is if I can't be bothered to get up and
go places, the world available 24/7 online has no problem coming to me. A reasonable
facsimile of just about anything one can imagine easily appears on command. Recipes are served up, shopping is a
breeze, help and advice (about anything) are just a
google and, if
I don't feel like getting up and out for church, it can appear right in my
lap.
However, it recently dawned on me that real live fellowship and shared experiences with others have
always been the finest part of life. And, once upon a
time, it was second nature to go about making them happen because it
was just how things worked. Seeing friends' daily life
photos online from occasions both big and small now makes no
one seem terribly far away. But, then again, they're not
here on my sofa sharing life and time, either.
Dropping
by to visit friends in their homes for no special reason was once
a particularly sweet and regular part of life, and I always looked forward to
the ritual debrief phone call when friends returned from trips. Receiving notes, cards and invitations in the US Mail were ever-pleasant surprises. All of these occurred back in that dark age when communicating with each another meant one had to do some work. It was
a different world.
In 2018, It's exciting to see what's possible out there--the 5 on/2 off work I once believed to be other-worldly is quite interesting and, surprisingly, there are still countless opportunities presented every day that are new and exciting. While the omnipresence of everyone and everything courtesy of the virtual
world is certainly beneficial, the finest arrangement of my life today should bring with it the best parts of the old
school, too.
With great curiosity, I always watched our neighbor Cathy coming and going in what appeared to me a full and enviable life. And courtesy of the children William and Annabelle, great people came my way in engaging settings. The significant lesson from all of these past moments is the walking out the door part. The richness in life that has been around forever is attainable, starting
with showing up somewhere else amongst
others. And it all begins with effort.
