action over talk

I sat across from a dear friend of mine at lunch today. We shared updates on our lives as we have only been able to keep up with each other via Facebook posts and occasional text messaging. It gets difficult when you become an adult to stay in touch with friends, but I am finding it to be more and more crucial for my development as an influential member of society. (Do other people think about this stuff? Oh well.)

Why is it that when we transition out of adolescence and into adulthood that we suddenly become privatized corporations? We slip into a rut of relationships, and we settle.

I barely recognized anyone at yoga class today. There was a friend of a member and then two women who were from out of town. But the instructor was the same, warm and inviting with a melodic narration to lead us through the restorative class. At the end, he usually invites us to leave our arms extended to the side if we would like his assistance in the final pose. But today he did not because we were all facing different directions.

I spoke up about this afterward telling him that was one of my favorite parts of his class - this open invitation to connect with someone else during a very relaxed and almost vulnerable state. During yoga, you are moving around in societally viewed awkward positions, but in the studio there are different rules to community.

It takes bravery to participate. Just as it takes bravery to extend friendship to people that cross your paths when you no longer have things in common like band or yearbook class or a fine arts major or a sports team. Life is full of small and big acts of bravery. But we must act. For if we don't, we are constantly missing the many opportunities that are designed for our unique fingerprint.