See What You See, Listen & Address

I was in an Uber the other night. Halloween actually. There was preliminary partying happening in the car before we actually arrived at the party. I was seated in the front. The music was blasting. I sang along in my cheetah print cat suit. 

The driver looked at me and asked where I was from. “Long Island”, I smiled. I have a tendency to smile and make eye contact. Speaking isn’t just verbal. 

“How about you?”, I asked.

“Guyana”, he shared. 

I asked him if he missed it and he told me he couldn’t remember. He told me he was 14 when he left and I’d began to wonder what trauma occurred that his teenage memory was left behind. 

“You seem so calm... that’s why I asked.”, he coyly admitted. “I figured you were from the islands.” He noticed my peace. 

I told him my grandmother on my moms side was from the islands, but I knew that wasn’t the answer he needed. Why would someone attach such an important life source to a geological location.

We locked eyes again and I began to see his brokenness. Those lost memories had pain attached and he was searching for peace. I could have left it there, knowing that he felt like he’d left what he was looking for on an island and that I perhaps, carried it. Instead I decided to let him know that what he needs is available here and now. 

I told him, “Oh, I’m a yogi. You’ve gotta be still sometimes.” He turned the music down. We talked the rest of the way... mostly about protection. I won’t go into detail... I’ll just say, look in someone’s eyes today. See what you see. The ones who love me always say, “Yo Chris?! Why you always gotta read so deeply into stuff?”. I feel for people. I won’t apologize for that. 

Address what the moment allows, but at the very least, let someone know you’re listening. You never know how long they’ve been suppressing, repressing, numbing, harboring or waiting. 

Don’t be ashamed of the package you come in. What’s in you is in you. You can be a sister and a friend to a stranger and a broken heart, even dressed as a cheetah in a catsuit. 

xo,

CM