Comments and 'We' Creation

For most of my life, I was a person who never comments. If I suspected my words would become overly visible, I would avoid baring them.

I chose, still choose, to speak one-on-one. I can test the outer limits of eloquence, exercise verbal agility, embrace fragility. Only one other consciousness vies for psychic space. We can share, reflect, not too fast. Silence between us is soft, supple, easily woven.

In the last 8 months, I have learned extraordinary strategies for reaching people. If I chose, and trusted, I could expose these words to the eyes of millions.

We hesitate.

Why "we?" At that point it's no longer about me. To greet the minds of many, I must embody unity. I must speak from a position of pure empathetic understanding, of we.

Can I trust I'll achieve an accurate, inclusive message? That I'll fill the "we-space" with kindness? There's the key, "trust." I can't guarantee. But I can believe.

At least now, I'm no longer frightened to try.

You are my inspiration. Your eyes, the mind from which they derive the flavor of their gaze, give my words validity and vibrancy. You are the other half of a writer's mind. You lift musings from the realm of self-gratification to meaning.

How many yous do I need?

If I grow deeply bold, or perhaps by carefully crafted accident, millions, whom I'll never know, may see this.

But why or how does "seeing" matter? Millions can spare a glance, and never connect. Two people, who after seeing this acquaint themselves with thriving, may flourish. Perhaps they will fulfill the ultimate meaning: to choose to carry this seed, to embody the echo.

So clearly it's not about seeing. It's only partially about believing.

Again, how many is enough?

I used to tell myself, "One, only one. If I can reach and inspire one person, I'll have made a world of difference." Now I don't think "how many" is the right question. Numbers matter little. Connection matters more than greatly. Connection, laced with sharing, matters all.

You can reach one or millions. Most will never say. Most won't even know how to say, and may not even know until years later they've been reached. You will never know how many, no matter how visible you are.

The goal: reach. Only through reaching will our hands meet.

~Ryan

(lengthy) PS. If you see these words, I greet you! You are, as I said in the very first post, always welcome. If you believe in these words, invite a friend or acquaintance to share the experience.

If you connect with these words, invite ten. Or print and post them in visible places (but be spare; we don't want tree waste). Email or share, broadcast, them far and wide. Allow your words, your connective belief, to accompany them, as this for those who do not yet connect will validate them. Or riff off these words, make them your own, mold them to match your life and experiences. If they inspire you, filter them through your creative funnel and use them to inspire others. Your presence has made them possible, so don't feel you have to, though you may certainly and freely, give credit.

If you are unsure, don't feel you're ready, or otherwise need more time to think, feel supported in taking it. From the cosmic angle, there is always time. And from the human angle blended with the cosmos, the time you take, even years, will seem as a fraction of a blink.