Beautiful Desolation

"Only the fundamental things apply..."
-James "Dooley Wilson in the movie, "Casablanca"

There was a point yesterday-- in the late afternoon-- when I felt desolation such that I haven't felt in years. It was such a tangible expression that I stopped what I was doing.

Over the past few weeks I've been working on a film that's being shot at the airport. It's been cool for me because I used to like airports-- a chunk of my youth was spent working at an airport. From student jobs cleaning airport bathrooms to serving meals to working in customer service, I've seen a lot. What I remember about the airport in Los Angeles was the irony at how many places their were to be alone. One thinks that airports and crowds are synonymous-- yet, once venturing from the TSA Screening checkpoint or the chaos at the gate or in baggage claim, airports are about open spaces. There are places at LAX where one can sit-- in the late afternoon or early morning-- and be convinced you're the only person on the planet. Airports represent beautiful desolation--places where loneliness amidst a sea of people is the concomitant norm.

With this week came an subtle epiphany: Relationships -- and not just the romantic variety-- are similar to airports: frenetic, confusing, awe-inspiring and strangely desolate. Airport terminals, I submit, are crucibles of loneliness. With the late afternoon sun at my back, the epiphany flashed, and then went away. I wanted to reach out and talk about this present desolation. But, to whom?

A powerful truth, I think, is the essential nature of being as it relates to loneliness. We must “be” in the pure since of living in the moment, but also we must “be” becoming the person that we are destined to become. That’s a bit harder. OK, its a helluva lot harder. because most of us are lost.

My Dad would often say that 'life's easier when you have a companion" -- the etymology of the word companion encompasses a root meaning of “someone with whom you share your daily bread.” In the days before supermarkets and food shops and restaurants, it was more of a challenge to procure ones daily bread. How beautiful, then, the expression of intimacy implicit in the idea of a companion. I think that this idea transcends, drills down, and expands on the notion of relationships. A relationship can be superficial. A companion-- at least in the historical frame-- acknowledges a recognition that ones life in entwined with the other at an organic, fundamental level-- we share our daily bread...we share in that which gives sustenance to one another.

The evil that engulfs the world, and the complexities of life that spring forth from just living, can grind us into grist. Having a real companion can be the counter-balance to what the big, bad world throws at us. Of course, there is another component to this-- and, it actually holds preeminence. That component is knowing God (to the degree that any of us can know God). The quest for knowing God is a recognition and acceptance that God’s first desire was that we know him. It was his idea. Even of the garden of Eden, it was God who came looking for Adam and Eve after they’d sinned.

Two people who individually have a desire to know God, and make the choice to become companions for one another, become a formidable source for good in a world that is gone bad.

Companionship is a life principle. Those who embrace it , then, upon receiving it treat it as something sacred, receive a gift that transcends any and all relationships they’ve ever experienced. It’s like breathing air with enriched oxygen content-- every part of your being is enriched in ways that you never thought existed. Even our best expectations and our highest aspirations fall so far beneath what could have been-- there are some things that out feeble little minds just know is possible.

On this day, I have a new appreciation for the dazed and confused look that rests upon the faces of airport travelers. Many give the outward appearance of rudeness or sadness---but, in reality it is their loneliness they seek to mask. Bereft of companionship, they wander amidst the desolation looking for clear signage, hopefulness and a friendly face. It's kinda like life, isn't it?

Comments

[inna miranda]

... and we also have a choice ... to wear the desolation or to charge through it.

[Mythe]

You just have to keep pursuing until I get to the place that you need for me to be. It's worth the chase, I guarantee you that.