Airplanes

Airplanes

I wonder about airplanes. How such a giant mass of metal could ever float weightless above the clouds. How such wings and wind currents could create a lift so strong it defies gravity. Strong enough to take hundreds of people anywhere. Strong enough to break out of the familiar and carry us to another world.

It begins at the airport, a mysterious place: paradoxical if you will. People of all kinds ebbing and flowing through the same place and time. People in their own world, lives intertwining for the briefest of seconds only to part ways again. Each on their own journey.

I saw an older gentleman reading a book about how to have a successful retirement. I saw a young married couple, starry-eyed and anticipating the honeymoon they always dreamed of. I saw a women with eyes full of fear, lost in a sea of people, traveling alone. I saw parents, eyes darting back and forth, numbers flashing through their heads making sure all their children are accounted for. I saw a man with a briefcase in a grey suit walking with purpose as if he knew exactly where he was going, a man on a mission no doubt. I saw an elderly couple waiting to board, the wife resting her head on her husband's shoulder, perfectly content. I saw a mother clinging to her young daughter, knuckles white while saying goodbye, trying and failing to hold back the tears. I saw compassion and goodness in the stranger that reached out to the mother, and with tears in her own eyes she said, "I don't know your situation, but you're going to make me cry!" I feel you. I get you. I saw a daughter saying goodbye to her aging father as the airport staff member pushed his wheelchair towards security, the fear of never seeing him again etched behind her parting smile. I saw a recruit bravely leaving his family and the life he has always known to fly across the country to play the game he loves. To discover the life he is supposed to live. I saw lovers sharing a tearful goodbye kiss wishing with all their hearts for one more day. I saw a son returning and after many months finally being reunited with his family. Coming home.

Separation. Reunion. Joy. Anguish.

Fear and Bravery.

Known and Unknown.

We fear that unknown, but the fear of the unknown is yet so well known by everyone here, everyone in the airport.

Then you get on the plane.

You hear the engine engage and the wheels move at a steady pace, carrying you to the end of the taxiway. Then slowly the plane starts to turn, and your heartbeat quickens in anticipation for what is about to happen. In a matter of seconds, it's full speed ahead. You feel heavy in your seat, the weight of the engines force holding you tight. The engines roar and the plane begins to tremble until it suddenly stops. The wings tilt and the plane begins to climb, sailing upward on the glass like smoothness of the air beneath you. Heavy, then weightless. You glance out the window and see the distance growing between you and the ground. Between you and the familiar.

And you ask yourself, what is familiar? You realize you finally understand. It is being familiar with unfamiliar. It's being comfortable being afraid. You realize that sometimes having your head in the clouds can ground you and help you see the bigger picture. It can give you a birds-eye view of your roots, where you came from, and where you want to go. Strange isn't it? Being grounded by the clouds? Knowing the unknown? Or at least the feeling of the unknown? The truth is you must realize that there is no reason to fear the unknown. Choose to trust. Choose to take the leap. In this you can find freedom. Freedom in knowing that the world around you is so much bigger than you, that you are a part of something so much greater than yourself. Open your eyes. Actually see those around you and understand. See that each one matters. Each one plays an irreplaceable roll in a great adventure, and for the briefest of seconds you were a part of theirs. They were a part of yours. Rest in the truth that the unknown is known. You are understood in a world where no one understands. You are seen for who you are. Your roots matter. You can rejoice because you have felt the pain. You are brave because you have been afraid. Don't fear the paradox. Embrace it. Have faith in it.

Get on the plane.

-CN

7/28/19