Kindness: The Road Most Travelled

I went to Cleveland the other day. It was my first time traveling since the pandemic started. A 6-hour travel day that taught me so much.

I have travelled all over the world in my life. It's a passion of mine.

Cleveland was not the furthest place I've been, the longest travel time, nor the most exotic, and yet I learned more than I have in a long time.

I didn't know what to expect as I headed to the airport. Would people be protesting wearing masks in the airport? Would people be punching flight attendants? Would there be heated discussions about politics and all around ugliness?

The news and the behavior I've seen on social media led me to brace myself for all of the above.

I need not have worried.

What I found instead was kindness, honesty, and openness, the magnitude of which I've never experienced anything like before.

The lady sitting next to me on my first leg was flying to Chicago. She had two funerals to go to. Two of her best friends had died. She recently retired to Florida, and was happy for her son to have both his parents in the same city. Unfortunately, his father passed away in 2020.

In the airport the woman across from me showed me pictures of her horse. She said the horse was a life saver during lockdown. Not only did she get to step outside of herself and care for another being, she was able to talk to people in other stalls caring for their horses, safely and socially distanced.

The man next to me on the second leg was overweight at one point. When he turned 50 he gave himself the gift of getting in shape. He got so in shape that he competed and won body building competitions. Now he has a "spare tire" but he is happy with his happy medium.

The sharing was not limited to the airport and airplane.

In Cleveland, the woman behind the counter at the pharmacy spoke about her fears of being phased out of work. She said that everything is becoming automated and her bosses stress that she should be "out on the floor," not interacting with people. She said that customer service is a thing of the past, which is a shame because what we really need most as a society right now is communication. She also shared that her father just passed away and that her husband died in 2020.

My Uber driver was a Vietnam Vet. He moved to Cleveland in the 1970s. His daughter just got married and he was very proud to be able to send her on her honeymoon.

There were more people and more stories. These were just a few.

My first post-pandemic travel experience was the complete opposite of what I expected. My expectations were based solely on my Facebook feed and the news I consume. I was reminded once again how these platforms have become ways to instill anger and fear in the masses for ulterior motives of the few.

I now see how we are all suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Each person, regardless of political beliefs, has grappled with enormous losses in the last two years.

The REAL story is we miss vulnerability, compassion and kindness. In a time of dehumanizing each other, we miss human connection.

We all really long for some sort of stasis, continuity and a sense of normalcy. This trip showed me that it is human nature to want to return to these things, and that despite outside forces we can and we will. It may take a while, but yes, I do believe we will.

My takeaways:

1. We are all more the same than we are different.
2. Focus on the good.
3. We can choose to limit our exposure to forces that aim to instill fear.

Before this trip I was feeling a bit hopeless. I now feel hopeful, thankful and full of compassion, gratitude and love to and for my Earth family.