Breathe. Just Breathe.


“I’ve got to go to the store to grab that.” 

“Will my daughter be okay in school?” 

“The bathroom faucet is leaking.” 

“How do we get more customers?” 

...


Death. 


Does it all silence? What happens to these thoughts hanging in the air? 


The world: “We need the make more money.” “Why is everyone fighting?” “Where do we want to move?” “This economy is bad right now.” “I am ready for love!” “Why can’t I get pregnant?” “I hate my life.” “I’m so happy right now!!”


Can you hear them? Can you hear all of them? 


The billions of thoughts. The questions. The yearnings. The sighings. The frustrations. The pains. The joys. The woes. 


Life. 


It is a ringing - a miss-mesh of sounds. Thought soup. Questions. Answers. Victories. Losses. Growth. Death. Birth. All happening, all at once, all around us. 


The sound of thought was long here before we were born. 


The sound of thought will continue when we are gone. 


The same feelings. The same thoughts. The same questions. The same grapplings. Before now. After now. 


Can you hear it?


Can you hear your own?


How does yours add or contribute? How do any of them add or take away to life as a whole?


Does it strike you like it strikes me? How it keeps going. And then mine - the thoughts that so consume me about daily life - mine will one day cease. And that sound of my part is silent. More take my place. Others leave off, and more take our places. 


What does it mean? What does it matter? What importance is it? 


The reality is that we are part of a cycle. Our attentions. Our focuses. They matter to us just like the car we drive. Just like our shoes. Our hair. What we like to eat. What we wish for. 


They matter. To us. 


But one day that voice is silenced. And the ones that rang before us keep ringing. The ones after us will keep ringing. 


Then. I see the people around me. Focused in this collective thought cloud. But I see them. Now I see them. Because one day I won’t see them. My thoughts won’t matter. I will no longer participate in the thought cloud of collective minds. But I’m here now. I’m here. 


Breathe. See myself. See them. See them. Look into their faces and see their fears. Their worries. Their joy. Their sadness. They are so busy around me. Does anyone see them? I see them. I’m slowing down to see them. 


See them. And be present. 


Is that the lasting impact of my life on this planet? To touch one? To touch two? 


Maybe. I don’t know. When I die will it be like sleep? Will I not know I’m here? Why does meaning in life matter so much to me? Why does my wanting to leave something behind mean so much to me? I don’t know. 


So many questions. I don’t have the answers for them. I just know where I am now. Standing in the crowd. In the sea of faces who’s thoughts hang in the air above us all. Do they know those thoughts they think will one day not be important? It ends. There is an ending.  It will be gone. 


Breathe. 


Breathe. Take it in. All of it. This life. These people. 


Breathe. 


Just breathe. 


❤️


Written to “Echo” soundtrack by Helen Jane Long

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