Thursday, April 10, 2008

life scripts written in pencil


sunrise from my vantage point, April 9, 2008

I love a good mystery and there aren't any better stories than the surprise twists and turns found in our own lives. Mysteries always have subplots that can leave you wondering about the purpose, or the reason behind it. Sometimes it becomes clear as it weaves back into the original plot, and sometimes you are left dangling in the thin air of the unknown. Not everything has a concrete, hold in your hands, reason.........even when it comes to wondering why someone has entered into your life in a profound manner. Our stories are life scripts which need to be written in pencil in order for the opportunity to make revisions is always an option. Because, well.....you just never know when an impacting event, person, thing will alter the trajectory. Gotta be ready for the possibility of life changes. Gotta be ready for an adventure.

Have you ever wondered why you have met someone...........sometimes they arrive in the nick of time, to point something out to you, or to teach you a life lesson which until then you seem to have missed. Sometimes they become friends.........good friends who become accomplices in helping you figure out part of the mystery. They become key players in your life script and you in theirs.....additions to a story that could easily become staid and stale from a "written in stone" mentality if it were not for the freshness found in being open to new perspectives, new ideas. More often than not, the changes to the script have to do with the people who enter our lives.......the joys and sorrows we share, along with the highs and lows all can precipitate the possibility of changing our storyline.

What I love about this idea is that we just never know when one of these plot twisters will show up. Everyone we meet has the capacity to affect your life, but in reality however, there are only a select few who are meant to be a part of your destiny. This is where the dividing line is between friends and kindred spirits.

In the summer of 1978, when I was 17 years old going on 18, I met a new friend at a summer camp we were working at. Laura was the only new person to be hired to join a staff of people who had been weaned as campers and staff at Camp Kawabi. How daunting was that? In she blew like a fresh breeze which stirred the group who had been comfortably and perhaps too staidly settled and from the moment she arrived, I knew my life had changed. I knew I had found a kindred spirit. Our friendship seemed to soar upwards to a place rich in openness and understanding, where very few friendships ever reach. Looking at how quickly we bonded back then, it seemed like it was an instanteous happening. We were inseparable...... two chatty, ever laughing, always plotting adolescent girls. We had a BLAST that summer. .... and the next summer.......

Our natural friendship continued to evolve outside of our idyllic summers at camp despite our "lives" at home. Though we didn't live in the same city, we arranged weekends at each other's homes as often as we could. It seemed like our friendship would continue to grow and evolve as part of our lifelong life scripts. But, somehow, somewhere along the line, as Camp ceased to be our summer connector, and as we focused on our studies, lived in different cities, we somehow lost touch. In fact the last time I saw Laura was on her wedding day. By then, I had moved onto Toronto to begin my graduate studies. Our worlds were different.....she establishing herself as a teacher, and me still working away in my studies.

Of all the friends who have come and gone...........whom I have walked a mile or two with, never in a million years would I have thought that I would lose touch with Laura. And yet, it happened. I havent seen her in almost 25 years. I hadn't heard from her either.........we were lost to one another, until this week. On Monday, I received an email from my long lost friend. I couldn't be happier. What has surprised me was my reaction.......oh, there were tears of joy when I realized what had just happened, and a little shock that so much time had slipped by. But, the overall feeling I am experiencing is one that floats in a sense of calm. I had always felt that our life scripts would intertwine again. I don't know why I felt that, but it was one of those things that just seemed destined.



"I was lost, but now am found......." these were the words Laura wrote on the camp website tonight to let others know too. I just may see her in June at a planned reunion if she can swing it. In only a couple of months, Muskie and Wasabun may be sitting down on the beach under the stars swigging some wine and laughing again like two adolescent girls.

Amazing grace indeed. Life's mysteries are marvellous.



11 comments:

JP (mom) said...

I love the idea of writing life in pencil so that we have the flexibility of rewrites, revisions and notes in the margin. What a gift getting back in touch with a long, lost friend!! Fabulous :) xx, JP/deb

Matthew said...

Wonderful story--so glad that a good friend has reappeared in your life. I'm looking forward to the post that relates the seeing of each other again.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Oh isn't that just WONDERFUL! Amazing Grace, INDEED!
The miracle is how she found you after all these years...An email, yet....I dearly hope she will make it to that reunion, or if not, that you two will get to see each other at some other appointed time...!

Rainbow dreams said...

What a wonderful turn written into both your scripts.
Our life stories are always the best - I love that we are living a mystery, though there are some parts of the plot I wish I could fathom out just so I could stop them irritating me so!
Some people are meant to be a part of our lives regardless of time and distance, I'm glad she found you :)x

paris parfait said...

Beautiful post - and it is strange how people flit in and out of our lives at certain times - and how new people appear. An absolute mystery. What a beautiful photo to accompany your beautiful writing! xo

Claudia said...

I'm amazed at people and their appearances and disappearances. I'm that person that people call after "all the years" and update. I'd like to say that I don't care - but usually I do. They don't ask about me or my life, just give me the update then head out. I finally realized that I'm like a kite string holder. I just hold a lot of strings for people - friends, old clients, colleagues, family, whoever.

As always, a lovely post.

awareness said...

Deb. I had the term "life scripts" in my mind and when I googled it, I only came across the term used in a negative way used by psychologists. A "life script" in their terms is something we tend to hold onto even if how we want our lives to unfold doesn't go by the script. It got me thinking that perhaps we need to be writing it in pencil to we can be flexible with our scripts. However, I do think some of our script has a predestinated aspect to it which is where I see kindred spirits falling into. In my thinking, God has some say when it comes to the people in our lives who impact us so profoundly.

Matthew. ME TOO! Pictures will be included. Laura just send me a bunch of old photos tonight and they are hilarious.....right out of "That 70's Show....." I'll post some before and after when it happens. :)

Naomi....it's even more fabulous. Laura found me by googling the name of the Camp, finding this blog and a couple of others.....reading about the camp we went to, she then googled and contacted my old boyfriend who presently runs a childrens camp. He replied to her and copied me in so that she had my email address here!

Don't you LOVE the internet??

Katie....I'm just thrilled that Laura and I have reconnected. It's been a fun couple of days catching up.

Tara....my feeling is that you've had a few of these instances happen to you as well? Isn't that a great shot? It was a beautiful sunrise........and it's lovely to see the river open again and not iced over.

Claudia.....Interesting that you are the kite string for many. it tells me you're their grounding perhaps.....a good warm person they trust from the past?

Shaz said...

How wonderful I too found a long lost friend when I came back to Brisbane I hadnt seen her in about 10 years and we now see each other weekly like no time has passed except for the 7 kids between us and a few more wrinkles its just like it was at school and I love that. Enjoy honey xx
PS guess who has a new border lol my youngests BF she has been with us fo nearly 3 weeks now so much for lessons learnt oh and and Bens younger sister is moving in also lol ;)

Under there... said...

Thank God that they are not written in ink like I tend to want them to be. The very best things are always the revisions and the little notes in the margins of our narratives. That is amazng grace indeed. Great post, as always!

J Pearson said...

I must learn to use a pencil more often and more; to realize that it is ok to erase and start again.
Thanks Dana - take care.

Karen said...

People do tend to come and go throughout our lives and sometimes the reason does not become clear for many years.

I am so happy for you that an old and cherished friend managed to find you again and look forward to hearing all about your reunion.