Take Your Hands Off Me

"This is private property", said the man and added, "You have no right to be here".

I nodded my head, walked away, and wondered why someone would want to have that much solitude: away from the world and away from prying eyes. I thought about the heartache he must have endured during his years that caused him to isolate him self apart from others.

The tide started to come in and the onrushing ocean crashed over my toes. I stood on a waterlogged beach in front of a tiny island on the most northern tip of Canada. Across the water lay the Pacific Rim, and many, many miles after that: Japan. Sitting of top of this island was a house miles away from the nearby forest, much less any nearby humans. I remember thinking that day about our privacy and the people we allow in on that privacy...and the reasons we keep others away.

Here you go, and may you enjoy.

When I stand alone from you, it only means I am standing apart. I am only seen as someone on the outside of your world. It is up to the individual to decide if a person is allowed entry into their thoughts. Until that moment occurs, well; we stand apart from others that are not like our selves.

Not like our selves to the naked eye that is.

Because when I am alone with you, it is easy to see that I actually love the art of conversation: you talk, I talk, we share, we laugh. It is in my nature to laugh and when I am not able, it seems like I am on the outside looking in. Looking in on a world I do not feel apart of. I step away and wonder if it will really be true one day. If it really is possible to have a friendship of significant proportions...one that will pass through a lifetime.

Or if it is true that all friendships are just to pass the time with.

For, you see, it is necessary to devolve who we are in order to create a bond. It is basic requirement for future interactions that you tell me your dreams and your aspirations. It is so asked because I would love to be there when your life unfolds: when it all comes rushing at you as if you were standing underneath a cascading waterfall...on a hot tropical beach in the middle of anywhere you want to be.

This is friendship to me: it truly is. To trust another so much that you not only tell them your dreams, but that you see them being an important aspect of those same dreams. Alone I have the same dreams and apart I still keep them true. I will tell you all that I long to travel, that I long to smell new fragances rising on the summer wind, and I long to feel the same hand in mine as we both experience the same rush.

I long for a life less ordinary. I know it exists because I have tasted it: I have felt it brush across my face enticing me to journey. The North wind it blows and calls for me to come run once more and take a tumble or two and rise again. It is how we learn and understand that we must trust. If you trust in that the Universe will take care of you, well; then you can trust in the process of life to lead you in the right direction. Together is the key, and not alone or apart; together we can do anything...yet alone with you I can do so much more.

Alone I am strong.

Apart I am mystery.

Alone I am who I want to be.

Apart I am someone to observe.

It is the in-between gap that I wonder of at times. How I can bridge the distance to show you intelligence, to show you humour, to show you insight. Insight to my mind, insight to my questions, insight to my soul. For you see: alone with her I am loved. Alone with her I am inspired. Alone with her I see a life so strong and yet it is only in the making. But apart from her I am missed. Apart from her I long to see her smile. Apart from her I can only envision the future we both see happening.

In the end it is all about trust and not about bricking your self up one at a time. Slowly, until the world is sealed away, and you find your self alone and apart. Do not place your self on a island because that is to shut away heart; that is to shut away life. I only ask this because it comes from personal experience of doing the same thing. From a time that it seemed easier to shut down my heart and ignore the pleading of my soul: to give in to the darkness and believe there truly is no light.

But there is. There is light for us one and all. There is a love so pure that we can all taste it and absorb its shared warmth. We all have our trials and tribulations, and Lord knows we all want to just quit at times. It would be easier than facing what we know may never go away. But facing your fears is the only way to accept them. To accept your fears is the only way to acknowledge them. To acknowledge your fears is the only way to admit they are apart of you...that they exist no matter if you are alone or apart.

Life continues on. Won't you continue on with it? It is the only true way to leave a legacy that you really were here. Until we meet again, my friends, until we meet again.

"I dream of high clouds flushed with light of daybreak...I'm gonna dive into water so cold it makes your bones ache." - David Gray