Somewhere, somehow, someone is doing exactly the same thing as you are right now!
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| St Petersburg! |
Without getting too much into science fiction, have you ever stop and
think that as you were scratching your nose right now, somewhere, somehow,
someone would have also been scratching his or her nose? Or as you take a bite
of your cheese and ham sandwich someone has also just taken a bite of an
exactly the same sandwich? With millions of people in this world it is very
likely that we live parallel lives with other people in other places, doing the
same activities we do at the same time. I would like to think that there is
someone out there who is your double, have you ever heard of that? Someone out
there, looks, acts and even speaks the same as you… that is freaky!
I was visiting the very cold and crowded city of Moscow this week where
I had the opportunity to take the metro to go to the train station to catch my
train to St Petersburg. For those of you who know or have heard about the underground
in Moscow, their main line called the ring line (because is a loop that
surrounds central Moscow) is not just an ordinary metro line with ordinary
underground stations. This main line was built as an incredible work of art.
The stations themselves are like museums with marble walls and impressive
chandeliers, mosaic works of art and monumental archways. Before getting into
the underground I was warn about the hundreds of commuters we would encounter
because of the rush hour and to stay close to ensure I didn’t get lost.
But as we went down the escalator and the artistic architecture of the
station appeared I forgot all about the rush hour and the large commuter crowds
around me. I couldn’t stop looking around and out of the window as we pass each
station towards our destination. I had to be doubly alert, to make sure I
didn’t get lost and to appreciate the settings in the very short window of time
I had in each station.
We finally arrived at the train station, which was equally impressive,
and I boarded the train for my four-hour journey to another impressive and
beautiful city, St Petersburg. When I arrived at my destination, the fully
packed train of business commuters descended upon the platform and marched
towards the main station to exit to the streets. And at this moment, as I
marched along the platform with my black coat and grey cap, dragging my
suitcase, shoulder to shoulder with my fellow Russian travelling companions, I
notice music playing over the speakers. I don’t know what the tune was but it
was a very patriotic Russian hymn that somehow transported me to think what it
would have been like 30 years ago during the Soviet era as people commuted from
one city to the next. There was something about being surrounded by Russians,
with the beautifully patriotic hymn paying in the background and me looking
like an Armenian (someone had said I did with my coat and cap earlier on)
arriving in a minus 10 degrees St. Petersburg that got me that Dejavou feeling
without being Dejavou!
I began to reflected on this experience on my way to the hotel and I couldn’t
help thinking that, although extraordinary and fascinating for me, this journey
was just a routine to all those around me. The commuters in Moscow did not once
raise their eyes to look at the impressive stations; they’ve probably seen them
thousands of times! No one paid attention to the beautiful patriotic hymn that
plays to welcome you to St Petersburg (I found out later on that they always
play it when a train arrives); they probably finding it annoying or have been
come deaf to it as they’ve heard it thousands of times! And my driver kept his
eyes on the road (good thing, trust me) whilst I marbled at the astonishing
building of this amazing city: he’s probably seen these building thousands of
times and is not marbled by them any more!
How many times have you travelled around your city during your
day-to-day commuting looking at the buildings and surroundings saying “what an
amazing place!”?; probably never. I used to work by the sea and after awhile
the novelty of seeing the see wears out! We are all the same as the commuters
in Moscow who no longer look at their surroundings, no matter how beautiful or
impressive they are. We are all the same as the train passengers arriving at St
Petersburg when you arrive at your railway station. Somehow, somewhere someone
is doing the same thing, as you are this very same moment, whether it is on the
Circle line in London or the Ring Line in Moscow, and we all have stopped
looking at our surroundings, but somehow, somewhere someone is taking the same
train at the same time as you!
We all live in our own little world but that world is somehow connected
to the universe around us. When you cry, there are probably thousands of people
also crying at the same time. When you laugh with joy, others are also bursting
out with laughter, the same time as you. When it hurts, someone somewhere has
also been hurt.
We are not alone and we are all connected. This crazy and wild thought
could help you get through things in life; when you sit there feeling angry at
someone or sad at the lose of someone special, take comfort knowing someone
else is also going though these emotions. When you are proud of someone or your
own achievements, feel exhilarated that others have also achieved extraordinary
things, just like you, making this world a little bit better. And when you fall
in love with someone take a moment to know that at the same time, somewhere,
somehow someone has also fallen in love!
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