Breaking the silence

Cities and their downtown culture has its own "rules"…….when people are in a closed space, everyone is generally silent.  This gives the required space and privacy to others.  An elevator is an example of one such space.  So as I was riding up the elevator with another couple, who were the residents in a building in downtown Toronto, I just had that desire to make conversation.  My niece and I had traveled the parking elevator with them and were now going up to our separate floors.  An innocent question, "did you have a nice summer evening", and our elevator companions smiled and the next few minutes of the ride were focused on how wonderful and warm and dry this summer has been compared to the last one.  The energy in the space flowed with the conversation.  It was as if a connection had been made.  The small talk became a way of recognizing the other.

 

Later my thoughts went back to the the culture of the "Ticos", as the people from Costa Rica are called.  I had just returned after spending three months in that country.  And, whether travelling in a car or walking on the street, one notices that people make a connection; eyes meet, greetings are exchanged, either in words or through a hand wave.  Stopping to give someone a ride, is a courtesy that is given and received.   Its a short pause, in the movement of life, but it does bring people in to the moment.  I wonder if this is one of the reasons that country emits a positive energy.   

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Tu Eres Mi Otro Yo – (You Are My Other Self).  A Mayan concept of unity, we learn to be ourselves through our relationships with others.

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