Musings and Appreciation

A friend of mine recently came back to San Luis Obispo for his mid-tour leave from Iraq. I was very happy to see him safe and largely unscathed. After having eaten our weight in sushi and froyo (damn you Yogurt Creations, you saucy devil) we drove out to the Avila Beach swings to give him a much needed whiff of the ocean and some perspective.

I know it's cliche, but there is nothing like looking at the ocean at night to make you feel utterly human. Something about the combination of endless night sky and the vast ocean expanse that make you feel small but somehow completely significant, somehow kindred in history and humanity.

We talked for a long time on the swings, about his experiences in the last few months, about being home, about the human condition in general. Although my heart broke for some of the stories he told me, I couldnt help but think about what they meant for us as a human race. The truth is, I am constantly surprised by our capacity as people for both incredible kindness and inexplicable cruelty, sometime wrapped in the same body. It isn't like Aasop taught me, that someone is utterly villanous or perfectly saintly. In the end, I think most people remind me of zoo animals, content to be a part of our individual habitats, hardly ever looking outside the scope of our immediate lives. My friend talked about being back in the states and hearing people gripe about the littlest things, and how angry he initially felt hearing these complaints while he feared for his life everyday. But in the end, thats what we have. If we were to always extend ourselves outside our cages, life would be too hard.

Sometimes, there is just too much to think about.