I sat at the San Diego airport for an ungodly amount of time yesterday, something like 10 hours. Sitting idle for any length of time has never been my strong suit, maybe it’s a lost skill or art, or maybe I am just conjuring up some nebulous excuse in an effort to justify the fact that I’m not actually doing anything considered to be productive. Perhaps observation is akin to active listening, that instead of looking for what we want to see, we observe the world as it is, with its infinite happenings, complexities, and subtleties. In any case, the San Diego airport has at one of its terminal entrances, Delta in my case, nestled up against a window and being bathed in sunlight, a piano with a sign encouraging anyone to play. There was the occasional child, or adult, that would depress a single key out of curiosity, and then there were others who would play. One gentleman hammering out an enjoyable rendition of "Under the Bridge" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
On their way in and out of the airport people strolled past the piano, which now lay silent, after its previous custodian went on his way. Walking alone, with a white guide cane, and donning a simple backpack, a man nonchalantly stops at the piano, placing his cane on the floor beside it, and his backpack in close proximity. He sat down, pulled the duet bench forward, and in a fluid, second nature type of movement, placed his hands on the keys and started playing. For a beautiful, 20-minute interval the lobby of the terminal entrance was filled with the beautiful music emanating from his fingers. While watching him play, I simply sat in awe, appreciating that he was not on a similarly fast paced, laser focused, mission like everybody else. I am paraphrasing here, but it’s about the journey and not the destination and sitting across the airport lobby from me was the embodiment of that. Maybe this situation was also playing out within myself. While simply waiting and observing, not contemplating the myriad of worries that constantly fill my brain, I took in the moment. Ultimately, I'm inspired to do what I do and pursue my own passion, taking photographs, all resulting from somebody's expression of their own gift. Folks just passed by, focused on their destination, rather than what was in front of them right now.
Life is a journey and if we are so focused on where we want to be, we may miss where we are. The entirety of the situation, the light, the bustling people, the music, I disregarded my own self-conscious feelings about how bizarre I was about to look lugging out a rather sizeable camera with an equally substantial lens and taking photos in an airport. While doing so, I was subconsciously mulling over my explanation for when security approaches to ask what I was doing before whisking me away to some clandestine room, but alas, I was never questioned. It was a quick reminder of my own capacity to catastrophize my fears, even in the most basic of situations and that those outcomes rarely materialize into anything more than intrusive thoughts. When finished playing, he simply picked up his bag and cane, and continued on his travels.
We’re all busy, have places to be, people to see, “important” things to do, or at least we think they're important. Perhaps taking 20 minutes out of our day on occasion to create something beautiful, without needing a pat on the back or praise but just because we can, because our gifts are worth sharing, is time well spent. You never know who you are going to inspire, or whose day you'll improve, or impact, by sharing those passions and gifts, your gifts. We all have gifts that are unique to us and those gifts make the world a little better, more inspirational, just by us exercising and sharing them…the world needs more of people’s gifts and along with it, inspiration.
