To Be Heard

There is a need within every human soul to be heard.

Not just that passing and passive listening that really doesn't do much more than offer a temporary patch to the soul that needs the restorative balm of real time, real concern and real love.

Though people tend to lump men into one box and women into another separate box (perhaps with nicer furnishings), the fact is that everyone needs the basic commodities of life to survive.

Food.

Shelter.

Clothing.

Love.

All of those things and certainly the intangible but nonetheless real emotional quantity of love are important. However, I would like to add another intangible that can only be measured through the looking glass of retrospect.

TIME.

The kind of time that takes an afternoon off just because.
The kind of time that flies kites on a brisk April afternoon.
The kind of time that baits your hook and helps you cast out into the channel.
The kind of time that holds the fussy infant and reassures them that they will be fine.

Time to put your feet up and just talk about anything, everything and nothing.
Time to kiss and hug your children before they are grown, gone and absent from view.
Time to plant a garden and reap the harvest of fresh peas for a late supper in the setting sun.
Time to read a favorite book or to read the expression on a face and respond in love to a need.

We need to find the kind of time that lets the warmth of a furry friend soothe our sorrows.
We need to find the kind of time where we drive around together just being with each other.
We need to find the kind of time often offered more to strangers than to family to be truly kind.
We need to find the kind of time that brings quiet and calm to the soul of everyone in our circle.

Most of all, there is a special thing about time that we need most of all.

Time given with no expectation of reward or recompense.
Time offered with no agenda or personal goals.
Time gifted to one who has so little left but needs our time the very most.
Time remembered as a treasure from those moments shared with friends.

Maybe all of the above are the reasons that I am obsessed with time. Or maybe there are reasons still circling that have not yet come in for a final approach and landing.

Either way, time is not my enemy. It never has been. Instead, like the line from a movie I watched a while back, I believe time is a friend that helps us along our journey.