worlds collide

how strange to consider our place in the world: us and the people we love, the people we know, the people we see but don't know, the people that live right next to us or below or above us, but we don't know. i think about this as i listen to someone who lives adjacent to me, someone i have never met and rarely hear, who is clearly having a very traumatic experience. i've only ever heard music (and bass for that matter) coming from his world. even that wasn't very often.

odd how in an apartment world we orient and classify neighbors in a 3 dimentional way. there aren't just neighbors next door - there are neighbors above and below and sometimes in front and behind. and like this neighbor, who is below, it's not unusual that because he lives on another floor i've never met him.

i know he had a academy award party. i heard his guests murmur, laugh and clap along with the ceremony i was watching one floor above them. and now i hear his pain, his sobs. how can i be so close to his pain and yet so removed? and i also think he would figure me crazy for going down there and asking if i can help. is that true?

i hope he has access to the people he needs. i hope you know who those people are in your life. i hope they know how important they are to you. if you doubt that - tell them.