Just keep moving
In the airport of Porto, a big slavic looking man with blonde hair forcefully kisses the woman by his side. So forceful, he has basically bitten her lip.
As he rests his hand on the railing, his bracelet is revealed to me. It features a tiny gold swastika, with an eagle next to it.
The eagle makes it different than the swastika I had seen tattooed on a darker skinned hippy I had seen a week earlier.
This spotting was another form of proof that things are always revealing themselves at just the right moment.
As I’m leaving Europe that day in May, the scriptwriters wanted me to remember that I live in North America because of people like the man on the escalator.
Such a small detail - a tiny emblem on someone’s wrist, was all they needed on the set that day to get the message into my head.
They wanted me to remember that for all the lovely people and places I experienced on that trip, there is a darkness to this world that can’t be shaken.
This shadow persists through time and space.
And there was something positive about it too, in that this man was headed to some other destination.
He was in front of me on the escalator, but he wasn’t blocking me from going home.
As you go about your week, just remember that we co-exist with numerous ideologies on this planet.
I am always reminded of the early scenes in the movie PCU starring Jeremy Piven. Everyone on campus has a cause to get behind. That movie was made in 1994, when the Internet was just making its way to people’s homes over dialup.
I like this scene because it reminds me that with all these issues in the world, and so many people competing for our attention and our support, you just have to keep moving.
And forgetting politics, in life in general, people will piss you off this week. That’s a fact.
Keep walking through the campus and get to your next destination.
People will get in your way, but they will never stop you.
I wish that man on the escalator all the best with whatever issues he deals with.
Elliott FM update - stream is running well but it really performs the best on browsers at the moment. iOS stream works, but is sensitive to interuptions such as phone calls, which I continue to work on.
Either way, tune in when you need a break from this noisy planet.
It’s the least I can do to help make your days a bit more calm and peaceful.
we need to learn how to live amongst all people even those that we don't and won't ever agree with. enjoy your week.