When I travelled to Japan, I often found myself aboard various different kinds of trains and other public transportation. Each person boarding and departing the train with each stop. Almost completely oblivious to those who were around them, with few exceptions. Even those who travelled together, couples, friends and family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Tokyo and the surrounding wards during rush hour. People would pack together with no breathing room, without modicum of respect for personal space. Not born from disrespect, but out of the simple necessity in just wanting to get to their next destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By contrast, in the western world, we find ourselves isolated in small groups confined to our personal vehicles. Isolation and independence, once again born out of necessity. Often filling the silence of our cars with music or other forms of media. Sometimes we carry friends or family, but ultimately to survive successfully in our nation, barring few dense cities, a license is required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is this stark contrast that I observed that made me truly understand an analogy presented to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Life is like a Train. You board the train at your station, bound for your own destination. There are some people that are there before you. Some even board with you. Others come later in your journey. At various points, they will depart. Some are lucky enough to join you for a large portion of that journey, and fewer still will be there when you finally arrive at the end of your own travels.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is in this way, that I have come to look at those around me. Accepting that people will come and go at various points in your life. Some at a fleeting fancy, comrades and compatriots in a single endeavor or common interest. Others, are steadfast travelling companions, even if they aren’t always by your side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each have their own mark to leave on you, and in return they take a piece of you with them. In most cases, we hope that the piece they left is positive, and that we’ve made their trip a little more memorable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most people are easy to mark for who they are, and how long they will be with you. Their ticket readily punched and available for you to read, their destination easy to identify. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there are a handful that walk into your life in which you will not have any ability to identify. Tickets hidden and unknown. Their impact often being the most influential to you, for better or worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve had several of these people join me for my journey. A few are still around, and I cherish them deeply. Some boarded for such a short period of time but left a profound impact as if lighting fireworks in front of my very eyes. Yet still, one holds my ticket and seems to know my own destination when I don’t even know it myself. These people cause the greatest enjoyment in my journey, and some of the most profound sadness. For on this journey, we have spent many years next to each other. Having come to depend on the companionship and company born from shared experiences and trauma. Seemingly born of necessity and often fluctuating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is with this thought in mind, that I wonder what the future will hold. Perhaps the view is cynical in nature. A means of dealing with the confusion and emotional turmoil that loss brings. Yet, what is life if nothing but a trip on board a train where the people we meet pulling at the strings of our heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is my life, but I often feel like a passenger. Just along for the ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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When I travelled to Japan, I often found myself aboard various different kinds of trains and other public transportation. Each person boarding and departing the train with each stop. Almost completely oblivious to those who were around them, with few exceptions. Even those who travelled together, couples, friends and family. In Tokyo and the surrounding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[31,29,30],"class_list":["post-405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-depth","tag-emotion","tag-expression","tag-impromptu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axwen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}