Do you ever find yourself closing your eyes and yearning to go back to a moment, not to be in the moment but for how that moment made you feel? The people in our lives play such an influential role in our lives that all too often we don’t realize it until things change. My last post was June 2020, give or take. Six years, give or take.

Where has the time gone? Did it pause? Did it fast forward? What has changed? Did anything stay the same? When I close my eyes and reflect on the people around me passing through the journey, I am often reminded of the passenger train theory. So much transition in life, so many pivots, so much change, and yet each day here we are. We think often that we are avoiding cheating ourself if we only focus on the end goal.

The miles shared rather than the empty seats behind. Presence over purpose, instead of worrying we left per the plan, focus on the focus they had while they were there, much like the travelers I saw in transit on the plane in my previous post where I pondered, what were they writing. (Pen to Paper, fingers to keyboard, what are they writing?). While I’m a massive aviation enthusiast, quite a shocker for those that know me, I can’t find it to relate at all to the travel of experience of point to point air travel. The plane is where we rush to wait, we embark to take off, land, and then continue to our destination and that serves as our shared moments and memories with people.

When I think of my youth, my love of trains, it is much more realistic to embrace the passenger train theory. Albeit, it’s much more than the people sitting across from us, the individuals that pass us in the car, but it’s also the moments we pause to look out the window and take in the scenery. When I think of the Human Element, it’s recollecting the attendants that passed by, thinking hard to recall their name, their story. I think of the feeling of looking out at the scenery, taking it all in, but once going so fast, it simply is a blur, much like life is as we speed up. The train speeds up, making it harder to see the landscape beauty passing by, and yet we continue. While inside it’s quiet, we are connecting with others, or perhaps using the time to delve into music and reflect with a moment of nostalgia on the path we were once on.

What incredible miles I have shared in my life to date, with many more on the horizon.

We travel this earth seeking connection as the void from the digital connection expands exponentially, still recovering in a post covid world.

My life has gone through immense change, all too many times I find myself lost in thought of recollecting particular moments and how they made me feel. Luckily as time passes, those that are painful tend to fade, and those of genuine connection fill my heart with love and compassion to persevere. In today’s age, I am not going to lie that I do miss sitting across from folks on the journey on a regular basis.

The train keeps going and ultimately the miles shared rather than the empty seats behind are what matters.

Be humble, be grateful, be true to you.

_{Photo: Shinkansen, Japan — September 2024. En route to Kyoto.}