Just for the Hell of It

Just for the hell of it, I was browsing Craigs List, which I confess, I tend to do when I can't sleep. Somehow the overwhelming amount of information on Craigs List makes me drowsy and usually works like a charm. Not last night. Last night, I visited a page on Craigs List called: MISSED CONNECTIONS.

Here are a few entries I was struck by:

#1: Unrequited Long Island
I'll only see you for an hour tomorrow and while its all I look forward to, I almost have nothing to say. And beyond that I dread every moment afterward, until I see you once again next week. I love your hair, and your smile, and how sometimes you don't laugh but tell me that I said something funny. I am in love with your existence; the thought that someone like you is alive and is real. I'm in love with all the things I don't know about it, which is a lot. I am NOT in love with your unattainability. I don't want you because I can't have you, I want you because when you hugged me, it created a circle of love and safety that was overpowering. I desperately want to sleep and pass all these moments that I am not in your presence.
God help me sleep tonight, and lift the misery from my situation.

#2: Dark Shades and an iPod - NJ Transit, Secaucus Station
You had dark shades and an ipod, and an archangel bag. me - black dress. it was only a short trip from secaucus to ny penn this AM, but was hoping you caught me checkin you out the whole ride. liked your shoes. wonder if this will reach you.

#3 I Think About You - Williamsburg
i wish i wasn't commitment-phobic because i think of you often. i enjoyed your company tremendously and i will miss you when you leave. and i miss you now.

#4: I love You. SM - NYC
That's all.
Just wanted to get it out.
I know, so stupid.

Reading these entries made me so sad. Are we all so starved for contact, for a true connection, that we feel the need to post things like this anonymously? These are real people. Real people with real feelings who cannot say to the people in their lives, "Hey, I love you. I want to be with you. I can't stop thinking about you."

And so most of us go on with our days- iPods cranking, blackberrys beeping, and we pass by people all the time on the train or the bus or stopped in traffic in the next car. And we don't really see people. See them as people who are tired, who have experienced great passion or heartbreak, who are just trying to get through the day and make ends meet. Maybe if we turned the iPod off and put the blackberry down, we'd have a conversation on the bus, or connect with someone on the train. Maybe if we weren't becoming a society so engrossed in NOT connecting would we actually have the wherewithal to say the truth to the people we care about and not wait until the moment passes by and we're left with writing anonymously heartbreaking tidbits on Facebook or Craigs List.

So if you get anything from this blog today. Get this: CONNECT with one person today. Be kinder to people in traffic. Stop and open the door for someone. Tell someone you love them. Call a friend you haven't talked to in a while. Be present in your lives and take the headphones out of your ears. Put the cell phone down and turn off the TV. Listen to the sound the breeze makes in the trees. Take 2 minutes and enjoy the beauty of nature. Connect with the people in your life and the world around you. Be kinder and CONNECT dammit!