stroll

something m has learned from people-watching.

people often have a strong sense of where they are going/what they are doing. not often do you seem people wandering without specific aim, taking time to inspect a situation or a flower, or what have you.

when it comes down to it, most of these small activities that one is headed to/from do not matter much. they are enjoyments, entertainments. it is very tempting to call them distractions, but what really are they distracting from? is this life....this endless stream of activities that compose an hour, a day, a weekend, a year? how can one label that? is life something that is found in between the cracks of these surface impressions; is life the stroke instead of the finished painting? is life the typing of these letters, instead of the composed paper afterwards? are books and memories merely records of a life already past?

life is an interesting thing. it is an energy, almost a currency, to be dealt, traded, spent, perhaps wasted, perhaps burnt. m thinks that books are life, even fiction....it is life spent, life invested in something which becomes interactive, becomes more than an object. it has purpose; it is infused with it through the intentions which wind themselves throughout the fibers of the book. it is a needled pen, sewing colored threads....a knitted pair of gloves or a hat for someone else to wear, itching woolenly, buzzing with the vitality and love put into them, the warmth and energy that they can radiate back to a mind in need.

but this is why it is hard to say with any certainty that busying oneself with everyday things and entertainments is a silly, unreal pastime. energy can be invested in anything one chooses, and other people are certainly no exception. really getting to know someone involves a lot of situations, a lot of shared experiences through which real parts of one another can be revealed. investing time in other people is one of the most important things that we can do, or so it seems to mattress. it's hard when one knows entirely too many people to keep up with, because often (as happens) it becomes a situation of being stretched too thin with no time to oneself. budgeting time is difficult, just like finances. and knowing people is great....they always leave room to surprise you~

and thus people-watching is completely enjoyable, because who are these people and where are they going, to do what? we can twist up these stories out of anything~