Observing passengers traveling on a train. How we view and experience the world from our perspective?

[Donte]

I was sitting in a train today and as we were passing the various stations I was watching people on the platforms and entering or exiting the train. Some well-dressed, others casual, a few had seen better days.

So many people! People of all sizes, shapes, age, backgrounds, socioeconomic status, religious convictions, sexual orientations, gender etc.

It made me think at a train station, how many issues, how many joys and losses are waiting?
One person goes to a celebration.
Another off to find bitterness and sorrow.
And the tourists with their cameras;
The homeless and the beggars with their guitars...

How the empty stations pierce your heart when the train leaves them behind. When all talk is quiet. No words heard.
When upon the lines night falls.
Just for a moment passing by so quickly, our life.
At a light, a uniform, a glimpse,
And then silence again.
And darkness.

Ever thought of all your journeys?
Which station were you yesterday?
In which wagon or carriage?

It’s so interesting how you can be in the same place, doing the same things and yet your thoughts are always different.

Today I pondered on how our environment, the daily images that register in our brains, the sounds, the smells, the tastes etc affect our feelings and moods and shape our wellbeing.

Our sense of the day is constantly affected by the ‘now’ and what we observe or experience at any given moment. How it makes us feel after it passes...

Each passenger in a train may travel to similar directions and have same destination, however, the same things will be seen completely uniquely from each person.

Even people of the same age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion etc would never see the same things in the same way.

We are all upon an express line, Life.
Running fast.
And the line always ends.
In the end.

How do you understand your environment in the context of your mental wellbeing? How do you see or interpret daily events? How and when do you decide that ‘today is a good day?’

How do you feel when you find yourself in a train carriage that is packed and you have to fight for your spot in the sea of bodies surrounding you?

What are some daily things that you do which make a positive impact on your life?

Is any particular thing that you’ve picked up from your upbringing that helps you carry on in your daily journeys and eases the struggles?

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Donte’,

What a lovely and thoughtful post about the beauty of diversity and acceptance 🙂

I’m too tired to answer any of your wonderful questions right now but I just wanted to express my appreciation for this thread.

Thinking of you.

Pepper xo

[Birdy77]

Hello Donte,

Like Pepper, I just wanted to mark my appreciation for this thoughtful and thought provoking thread.

It's very poetic & creatively expressed.

You work so hard and put so much into all your threads and it's very admirable, thank you for your always thoughtful posts, I read most of them but don't often post myself.

I really hope you are taking gentle care of yourself. You are admired on these forums and are a valuable part of the community here.

Thinking of you.

Gentle thoughts 🌻birdy

[Peppermintbach]

Well said, Birdy 🌻

Pepper xoxo

[Donte]

Thank you Pepper.

I grew up with a mother that was mostly cynical and always tried to find reasons to validate her belief system - that the world is a bad place - that no one can be trusted, that people want to always exploit you and use you. She would say to me: ‘If anyone says good morning, ask them what they want’; ‘The world is evil. No one wants cares about you. They stab you with a smile.’

It can be hard for first-born children to be born and grow up in a family where the father is absent (if around at all) and the mother too young to deal with life and unable to cope. You see, she was running away from a very early age from home, to escape an alcoholic father and the violence that took place in front of her eyes in her family home. She met my dad and got married in 23 days - the only option to leave home - and then gave birth to me at 18! Unemployed, homeless, in an era and a place where women were not able to receive an education and/or employment and their only option for a better future with some sense of security was to marry someone with a secure job or career.

It took me decades, and I’m still struggling at times, to realize that her personal experience and beliefs don’t have to be mine too. There’s plenty of ugliness in the world but also lots of goodness and kindness.

Looking around me now, with the eyes of a middle-aged person, many times her words echo my ears, but also, at other times I’m convinced she was wrong.

What makes a good day? Sometimes it’s just a glimpse, a look, a smile, a word.

I’ve come to realize that our personal perspective affects and influences the interpretation we give to our experiences and the environment we find ourselves in.

The awareness of the connectedness with our own thoughts and emotions; the impact others have on us; the environment we are in and the way we are all linked together plays a major role in our wellbeing and mental health.

If we are able to smile silently and turn around; look at something else; divert our thinking; concentrate on something or someone else, then when we come back to ourselves, the feelings seem different, the thoughts have changed, what remains is only the memory of how we felt as a reaction to a specific event.

And the train keeps running fast on the tracks. The day is leaving and another is approaching.

Trying to exist in the space between the moment that expires and the one that is about to eventuate may be the most challenging and yet cathartic endeavor there is.

X

[Donte]

Thank you Birdy77,

We are all passengers onboard this train called life.

I’m honored to be part of this online community and share experiences that directly or indirectly impact our wellbeing and affect our mental health.

I get as much out of this exchange and engagement as everyone else.

It is indeed, a great avenue to connect and acknowledge, embrace and accept aspects of ourselves that often we are unable to express elsewhere. And to know that we are safe and aloud to do so is truly therapeutic.

I’m thankful to have been introduced to this forum and undoubtedly it has helped me immensely to connect with aspects of my life that were often not given permission to surface and properly looked at given the significance they deserve.

Thank you for being a part of the journey and for your encouragement.

We are not alone. And we are all more than we are.

X

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Donte’ and anyone reading,

Your second post was very poignant. I found it bittersweet...sad but hopeful at the same time. Much like life, I suppose (or my take on it anyway)...

Your comment about how our unique experiences helped to shape us into the people we are today really struck a chord with me.

But this...this was truly beautiful:

And the train keeps running fast on the tracks. The day is leaving and another is approaching.

Trying to exist in the space between the moment that expires and the one that is about to eventuate may be the most challenging and yet cathartic endeavor there is..

Also, I’m so happy Birdy (waves) wrote to acknowledge your thoughtful contributions.

I really hope the multicultural forum grows, and isn’t it wonderful to know that you were there to watch (and help) it evolve from day one?

That’s pretty special 🙂

Pepper xo

[Birdy77]

Hello Donte' and Pepper 😊 and all,

It's so great to hear back from you Donte'.

That phrase Pepper quoted, that you wrote, is really truly beautiful and so true.

i know you have much heartache and it's truly courageous the way you live each day to the best of your ability and to give your all on these forums.  You bring a lot to a lot of people.

Pepper and I think highly of you as do many others here.

Cheers friends ❤ xo

🌻birdy

[Birdy77]

Hello Donte' and Pepper 😊 and all,

It's so great to hear back from you Donte'.

That phrase Pepper quoted, that you wrote, is really truly beautiful and so true.

i know you have much heartache and it's truly courageous the way you live each day to the best of your ability and to give your all on these forums.  You bring a lot to a lot of people.

Pepper and I think highly of you as do many others here.

Cheers friends ❤ xo

🌻birdy

[Birdy77]

Hello Donte' and Pepper 😊 and all,

It's so great to hear back from you Donte'.

That phrase Pepper quoted, that you wrote, is really truly beautiful and so true.

i know you have much heartache and it's truly courageous the way you live each day to the best of your ability and to give your all on these forums.  You bring a lot to a lot of people.

Pepper and I think highly of you as do many others here.

Cheers friends ❤ xo

🌻birdy