Day 124 "We Are Never Only Human"

I went for a walk with Danbox today. It was the last few minutes before the nightfall. He struggled to keep up with my pace, or I struggled to keep back with his slow one? Either way, he never complained about the distance, he just kept walking along with that ever present joyous expression on his face, and acting in his usual childlike way.

This world held so many wonders for him, and I could tell that his distance from me was currently more than the many steps away that he was. I could tell that he was far away from his worries and sufferings, and that any act on my part to make contact might break this momentary blissful spell.

In the limited time that I have known this little box man he has taught me many things, but none more important than the conscious decision and act of honoring life with your full and undivided attention.

Without a sound or an aggressive action, Danbox somehow speaks of both silence and patience, of understanding and respect, and of course of hope.

I watched him for many moments as he turned the sidewalk and surrounding area in to his personal playground. I studied him as he moved from side to side with such beautiful curiosity for everyday things.

Most of us meet alien things with fear, and that fear becomes an enemy that divides us from these new things; but for Danbox this is not the case, for Danbox meets everything with an honest and open appreciation.

He doesn't seem to fear much, and he never shy's away from a challenge, much like now as he works hard to balance himself atop a rickety fence far above the ground for him.

There are faster ways to one’s destination, more secure and safe ways to make it from one side of the street to another, and for Danbox those ways seem far less attractive.

I am only human.

I am forgetful, I am impatient and I am distracted. Like water, I find the path of least resistance and the fastest way down, and for these failings I reach the bottom of things in record time.

Danbox stares at me from a distance now, and in my head I think I hear “There is no such thing as being only human you know?”

For a moment I stop and think about these words, the depth of them, and the universal understanding behind them; and for a moment, just one fleeting moment, I feel a weight lift off my shoulders as heavy as gravity itself, and for that very moment my feet left the ground in reverence.