Everyday at breakfast, being the loner I am, I sit by myself at a table close to the window. The table itself is usually empty of anyone but myself, although occasionally, another loner persona sits at the other end and chows down upon their oatmeal, because definitely loners eat oatmeal. There is no other meal suitable for stimulating the loner brain.
And everyday, staring out the window, I am privileged to watch a gigantic flock of pigeons. I might even call them a family. They swoop in the most graceful way I have ever seen. Not a one gets lost or separated from the group. I don't know how they can turn with such precision. I probably could read about the physiology of pigeons on the internet, but I am content to sit in wonder. Sometimes they land on the balcony that overlooks the field upon which my campus is set. This is probably the most amazing part to me. They one by one dive off the ledge, vanishing for just a moment before the swoop off into the distance. As soon as the one reappears, another takes the same plunge. It's a choreographed act that is incredible.
Soon, they are all back in one group. Back as a family.
Yet, what amazes me even more than these pigeons is that I am the only one who seems to notice. There are other people eating at the same time. They're facing the same window, looking at the same field, but all they see is the television on the wall. No one but me seems awed by these birds. Maybe they all know how the birds can stay in the same group, turning as if they were one whole mechanism, but I doubt it. Why don't they notice? Why don't the little things matter to anyone but me?
Is it because once you have found your group, you no longer do your own thinking? You have your friends, your peers. You can bounce ideas off them, you don't have to make decisions or choices on your own anymore. But are people surrounding you holding you back from seeing the things that make life so beautiful in the first place? If all you do is talk about menial things with this group of people you call friends, is that even living? What if you stopped to ask each other about the birds? What if--maybe for just one morning--you ate in silence, with your mouths hanging open, gazing at the awesomeness that are these birds? What if you shared your little moments with your people? Wouldn't that be more enriching than watching the football statistics while cramming eggs down your throat?
Don't get me wrong here. I'm all about having friends. Friends are amazing. I probably wouldn't even be here if it weren't for some of the friends I've made in life. But I'm saying that if having friends is making your forget that there are other things that should be seen or heard or felt or enjoyed, maybe you need to learn how to look past those faces and reconnect with the moments.
Moments make life happy. You can look back in your past and pick a memory, any memory, and when you think about it, all you've really done is turn a moment into a scene. The scene is frozen in time. Maybe it's Christmas when you were little, or when a sibling could first realize what being a sister or brother meant. In your head, you've made a big deal out of what in reality was just one moment.
Most importantly, you need to share those moments. That's what humans do. They tell stories. Stories are just a conglomeration of moments. That's why we have friends. Because they enjoy hearing our stories about pigeons. And maybe you can show them the pigeons too. Then you have a shared moment. And a bond. Moments make bonds.
Today is an important day for me. Today is when--four years ago--a series of moments came together and culminated in making me who I am today. Today is the day to celebrate moments. It's the day to celebrate the people who've shared those moments, who've made those moments better for you. You should celebrate the happiness you've felt, and rejoice in the sadness that made the happy moments just that much sweeter. Celebrate the moments that brought you to where you are. Without moments, you're just living because it's something you have to do. So maybe a pigeon won't change your life. But maybe it's something else that will, and you wouldn't have noticed it without looking for moments.
And make today the day that you tell the people you love that you love them. You never know what kind of moments might happen tomorrow.
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