...seeing beyond to see the soul. I try this on a daily basis now when I'm out and mingling with the hustle and bustle of this magnificent city. It's nothing like how it was for me when I was living in Tokyo. There, the sidewalks were teeming with people, getting to work or school on foot and on bicycles. I was lucky if I didn't get hit by a passing cyclist balancing themselves, their books and their umbrellas on a rainy day. I would get home in a state of agitation because so much of the commute in Tokyo was about struggling to avoid the flurried movements of others.
Toronto definitely has a similar atmosphere. I mean, what big city doesn't? Still, you don't get the sense that Toronto is an overcrowded city, but with just enough people to challenge your daily commute in some small way.
Though Toronto has a pretty decent and efficient transportation system when the TTC folks are not punishing us for blocking the doors, there are days when you just want to stand in the middle of the station and hurl abuse in every direction. I guess you see how lacking many of us are in common sense, myself included! For example, why would you stand right in front of the doors to enter a train when you see a crowd of people inside the train who want to get out? Also, I get quite annoyed when I'm having to stop on the left side of the escalator because someone in front forgot that the left side is for the walkers and the right side is for the ones taking a bit of a break from all the walking. And then I often get distracted by loud talking or people listening to their Ipods on maximum volume.
Ok, so here is how I've come to deal with it all:
- I've started looking at people as bright lights. Yes, the bright lights represent their souls in my mind.
- All I see is this bright light, not how they look on the outside: their face, their hair, their clothes, their posture, etc.
- Maybe it's their aura I'm trying to connect to?
- As I look at each person this way, I breathe deeply like when I'm meditating. Et Voila! The agitation that was beginning to form inside me simply disappears.
As for less metaphysical ways to deal with the stress of other people getting in your way, here are some perspectives:
- the people who stand in front of the door of the train as you are attempting to get out - SMILE at them, not a cheeky smile, but a sincere smile. I believe they put themselves there to be acknowledged even if they don't know why their feet planted themselves there. It's our souls at work.
- the people who stand on the left side of the escalator - they're trying to tell you to give your body a break, breathe deeply, and use this brief delay or pause in an otherwise rushed day to collect your senses and perhaps to focus on the people sharing the ride with you.
- the people who talk like they're talking through a megaphone or when they're playing their favourite punk band song on their IPods at a kajillion decibels of screaming noise - When I'm trying to read or when I get lost in my thoughts, it's a distraction. BUT, whatever brings you back to the present, in my mind, is no longer a distraction. All those sounds here before us are examples of life unfolding, and when we allow ourselves to be present and to witness all this life like flowers blossoming in spring time, we can really sense the preciousness of life, and how fleeting it is. Those distractions are gifts given to us to bring us from the insides of our heads, and to experience life fully. It gives us the opportunity to move away from our own self-centered view of the world, and see how others experience life.
True, it might annoy you even more, especially if you have an exam that you're studying for on the train or an interesting book you're trying to focus on. But our souls give us away...our souls want us to embrace life as it plays out in front of us. Our souls wish us to see other souls as they dance, laugh, talk, cry, and stare at us in these metal capsules that move us from one "box" to the next. It's in the in between where we have the chance to reclaim the gift of an ever-present life.
Aum....................
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