My brother Jim used to travel by plane for his work a lot more than he does now.  And for a while, so did I.  In an amazing coincidence, once he called me while we were both inside the Twin Cities airport in Minnesota- he was leaving and I was arriving.  No time to meet, but we laughed at the irony -closer than a mile and yet connected only by phone.

The other night, my niece gave us a concert via Zoom.  Probably 1400 miles away and connected by smiles and sounds. 

Two people can live in the same house or sit in the same pew in Church and the distance can be felt more than a mechanical kiss or perfunctory sign of peace.

Alice and I recently watched a documentary of a woman who was raised in the Arctic, went back again in her 20s and then again in her 50s.  She told lessons of survival, simplicity, gratitude and strength.  And then I read an article in the Times about a 37-year-old woman diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer rejecting the idea of a bucket list.  She just wanted to enjoy living and loving and experiencing life as she could.

What do airports have to do with the Arctic and technology with terminal illness?  It’s about being awake, aware, alive and in touch with what is going on now- certainly outside of me (what I can change) but most acutely that truth that is deep within.  Nothing is as close to us as the true self that so wonderfully bugs us to live in freedom and joy.