while sitting at a cafe

Have you ever taken the time to just sit and observe the social activity around you? 

I think society should affect us, make us take a reflective moment and hear what our surroundings are saying and then what we are supposed to do with our new-found information.

So often I feel as though I am walking through social happenings, playing the part of a non-speaking role, not seeing or participating.

Here I sit, overhearing a conversation behind me in which the person speaking never stops talking, therefore never listens, never actually participates in that conversation. I know that sounds inaccurate, that he's talking and therefore he is active. However, he is not affected. He is not allowing the person the space to influence him.

I also observe from my seat that the Beat Generation is not dead. Running past me was a 20-something guy, with his unlaced leather boots, tapered tight black pants shoved into his burnt red scrunch socks and that certain hat that only a beatnik would wear.  He was running back with some money to buy a book of original poetry from a bearded gentleman wearing a forlorn look. 

How am I affected by this situation I am in? Do I look at it and appreciate its uniqueness? I won't lie. I am completely distracted by loud Mr. Talker guy behind me, but he is also part of the landscape I have found myself in. I decided to sit here and be inspired.

A) Never give up.

We've heard this so many times - Nike in the 90's just wanted us to do it, Diesel promised successful living with their clothes and Honda apparently held the power of dreams. But how does one continue pursuing something when the world distracts us from our passions? Take the older gentleman selling his poetry. It is something he loves, you can tell. I had walked past him on the other side of the street. He was sitting on a bench and his very low almost muffled "Poetry?" barely caught my ear as I walked past the books displayed in his hand. I wondered, as I saw him again on this side of the street, leaning against a tree waiting for the beatnik kid to come back, how many times he went to wherever it was he considered his home to fill the pages of some journal with more rhymes. Does he live alone? And what kind of determination does it take to come here or there just to sell one or two books of his thoughts in verse?

B) Stay creative.

As I look at Beatnik Kid, I so want to see something of myself in him. I love that he not only bought a book of poetry by some unknown guy, but he ran, literally, to the ATM and back to support the unknown art. I love the very faintest of smiles that was brought to the face of the Gentleman Poet, so slight underneath that beard that you almost didn't recognize it as a smile. I love that Beatnik Kid is who he is, probably fights for his uniqueness. I wanted to get to know him, if only to find out where he bought his hat.

C) Take the time to shut the heck up.

Don't get me wrong, Mr. Talker guy had some words of hard-earned wisdom, but I was so frustrated by his lack of consideration that I stopped hearing his words. This, I felt, was probably happening to the listener on the other end of the phone conversation. Sometimes I feel that we just love the sound of our own voices so much, or we are too insecure to hear others say we may have faults, that we just don't shut up. There were plenty of great words spoken, but just imagine if the questions he asked were of a genuine curiosity of the other persons answer and not of a rhetorical nature? He would then listen, be affected, gather correct information and then, encourage, exhort or simply... agree. 

Imagine if we stopped talking and started acting? And really, how dare I just sit and observe when I could be a part of any one of these lives and be affected by them... oh, and motivate them to continue on in greatness. I don't know if Mr. Talker would listen long enough, but there's nothing wrong with being a sneaky encourager.