Okay, I admit it. I am part of "wired society". Often times, you can find me reading a novel or taking notes on my iPad, or playing Words with Friends on my iPhone on the way home from work. I also engage in some risky behaviors... texting & walking through the very busy corridors of the mall that sits below my office, through the busy MTR train stations, or even on the sidewalk. It's modern society's way of playing chicken, just like my sister and I used to do on our monkey bars at home. These little toys are also a security blanket and a message to the outside world saying "I'm very busy and obviously well-connected. Don't bother me."
It's funny how life sometimes sends you messages along the way. I got a kick in the butt yesterday, which was exactly what I needed.
A little context... I've been rather stressed out lately. Stressed to the point that I'm having some physical symptoms, which is always a major red flag for me. I am fiercely stubborn in that I don't really like to go to the doctor, but I do find that some Eastern medicine techniques work for me. Might not be for everyone, and I realize that. I started going to Reiki practitioners when I had similar issues back in Amsterdam. Reiki, in a nutshell, is a Japanese healing method that focuses on balancing your internal energies. I know, I know, sounds kind of out there, but, for me, it works, and, if something works, you don't question it.
So, anyways, yesterday, I was leaving my flat to go to a Reiki session. I got in the elevator, and there was an older woman already inside. I said "good morning", and then immediately got out my phone. You know, there were very important Facebook status updates I needed to check. The woman was undeterred by my busy-ness. She asked me if it was cold outside, and we had a little chat on our trip down. There is then a second elevator that you need to take to get down to the street, and we rode in that one together as well. She told me that she was from Holland originally, but now lives in the US. Her son lives in my building, and now has a 2-year-old. She is here visiting for 3 and a half weeks. We continued walking up the street together. I actually needed to cross to the other side to get where I was going, but I couldn't help it - I kept walking with her, and she continued to tell me about her life. Her father worked as an engineer for a Dutch oil company, and she had actually grown up for most of her childhood in Indonesia, etc, etc. When we got to the park where her granddaughter and son were already playing, I was sorry to have to leave. All of this, I could have missed, just because I didn't want to look up.
I got to my doctor, and, to be honest, I was pretty upset after reflecting on everything that I probably have missed out on because "it's just easier" to pull out my security blanket. This is not the first time that I have had an experience on the way to a Reiki session that brings up just the emotions I need to experience at that point in time. We talked about a comparison to life in which you can decide to get on two tour buses. In one, you know exactly where you are going, but the windows on the side are blacked out. On the others, the final destination is unclear, but you get to enjoy all of the scenery along the way. It's a choice we make every day. On my way home, I didn't take my phone out. I left it in my bag, and looked around at the amazing city I lived in. I made eye contact and smiled at young children and elderly people I passed along the way. Most of the time, they smiled right back. Though I didn't arrive home knowing about all of the news on my BBC app or what my friends had posted on Facebook during my 20 minute walk home, I did arrive home feeling a new sense of energy, that is all around us in this beautiful world, if only we take the opportunity to look up.
