Memory 2015-07-18 – My Kind of People

This is a copy of a facebook post and conversation that took place one year ago today. You can see the original facebook conversation here. I have posted it here on my website because I must never forget what the experience taught me about myself and thereby the world which is just the people in it. Everything else is just an accessory to the real business of life which is about your relationship with the people you meet.

Brandy and Philip 2016-07-14

Philip Wake

MY KIND OF PEOPLE
I fell into conversation with somebody in Gosport who was just my kind of person. The moment I saw her I knew she was something special. Though we were total strangers, we talked animatedly about subjects that only good friends can talk about. She listened to what I was saying, understood what I was getting at, laughed at my jokes and knew the difference between irony and sarcasm. Looking back on it today I suddenly realised what it is that makes life worth living and why I have been so bored with life for so many years – so bored I became angry far too easily when patience and understanding would have been far more productive. The only way I knew to avoid being bored was to go out salsa dancing which I have loved doing for over 12 years but that was avoiding the real problem!The real problem is that I haven’t often enough been in the company of my kind of people and now I know that I don’t even have to be in the company of my kind of people to become the good man I always knew I could be without knowing how. All I have to do is think of the last or any time I had a conversation with my kind of person and I find myself smiling inwardly at the pleasure that the mere thought of it brings me! I have arrived but I am certain that it will be years before many of those who think they already know me realise the change in me. My real friends won’t notice any difference of course because when I was with them I was the good man I wanted to be without any effort whatsoever!

Comments

Yvonne Dearing So , are you now meeting up with this lovely person, ladies , or were they there anyway but you could not see them

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Philip Wake I will certainly meet this lovely person again but the main point is now that I understand me I will be able to understand other people! 🙂
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Philip Wake Also being bored will no longer be an option now I know why it was happening! 🙂
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Trevor Bagley Thanks for sharing. I think we can always feel, on an intuitive level, when we’re meeting heart-to-heart, like an inner recognition. Meeting mask-to-mask, which is more the norm, is seen to be unsatisfying once the inner journey has kicked in.
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Philip Wake Heart-to-heart is a good description but I must make it clear that I did not regard the encounter to be of a romantic nature in any way. It was just two like-minded people having a productive conversation. My realisation after the encounter was that it’s this kind of meeting that makes life worth living. I should have realised this after spending an evening of salsa at Southampton University some months ago. There were a few good dancers but what I enjoyed about the evening was the company of like minded people who reminded me of my university days in Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1963 to 66 when boredom was not an option that ever got a look in! 🙂