Mid-way through the movie Shall We Dance? Susan Sarandon is sitting in a dark, dirty bar, next to the man she hired to find out whether or not her husband is having an affair. The detective, who has seen it all, comments that he doesn’t know why anyone gets married. Susan’s character turns to him and says:
“We need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet… I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’.”
This echoed in my head for days after I first heard it spoken. And it does now, years later, as I write this. To compare our lives to the metaphorical tree in the woods, if it falls and no one is around does it make a sound? If we live our lives without a witness have we lived at all?
It’s not clear to me if my life will be more remarkable than any other. However, I certainly don’t want it to go un-witnessed.
So I reach out to the world by any means I can, in search of a way to express my passions, fears, and revelations. I think we all do. In reaching out sometimes we are lucky, and we build a community of like-minded people to help us survive the feeling that the universe is big and in it we are small.
There’s an affirmation I like: You are seen • You are known • You are loved And it helps me.
What helps you feel less alone on this little rock hurling through space?