In the span of two hours I saw an old woman shed a tear near a bus station, another elderly woman get angry in the bus, and a 72 years old man tell me that he feels like he is my age. “Old” people are willing to share a lot about their personal lives, as if they have come to terms with who they are. Most of the time they don’t even look for an answer, they just want to exert some kind of energy into the world (as if it’s their last). It is up to the observer, in this case me, to either ignore them, or to try and perceive them.

“Either you love all people, or you shut the hell up” – Bill Hicks said something like that when he was discussing abortion in one of his acts. According to him, it would be more beneficial for “pro-life” people to adopt a kid, instead of trying to save unborn fetuses. He has a point. What about the people who are already living here? We cannot save the ones who are living, but there people willing to blow up abortion clinics in order to save unborn fetuses. Oh, and we also want to save the planet. Big savers we are.

The people I met, however, did not have the desire to cover themselves up with religion, a twisted sense of accomplishment, or boastfulness. They didn’t want to save or be saved. They just wanted for they voice to be heard and I was willing to listen. Well, one of the old women was crying because her adopted grandchild was moving out of town with her husband, the other old lady just wanted to get on the bus, and the old man looked like he could arm-wrestle me and win (easily).

I have seen folks around their 20’s who are ready for a career, a family and their daily dose of Viagra. I have also seen 60+ people who want to fall in love again, do a bungee jump, or make a Twitter account. Here is the catch – none of those ways of living is “wrong.” We are constantly pressured to think about preconditions. We have this idea that we need to be x in order to become y. Who has decided this? And who am I to judge?

Let’s leave the ball rolling, shall we?

I also read somewhere recently that “we are human beings, not human doings.” Actions speak louder than words and they define who we are, but we often lose ourselves in the routine. A lot of Buddhist literature mentions how our bodies are constantly in the present, while our minds are either in the past or in the future. Meditation is a way of being in the “now.”

We shouldn’t be afraid to be in this moment, now.

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