On the last day in San Andreas, right before my eyes, two girls flipped over on a motorcycle (this is a separate story of how I ended up there, because I wasn’t supposed to, but I was delayed by a conversation with a local on the road, oh well).
They were lying on the side of the road, I approached, then some locals ran up. One girl jumped up, and even though she was all scratched up, she immediately called the owner of the bike, walked back and forth, saying that everything was fine, everyone was alive. The second girl could only sit down and, holding back tears, groaned. I approached the second girl, realized that she was in a more complicated condition – she had hit her head and shoulder a bit and scraped her knee, I hugged her, stroked her skin, told her to cry and not hold back her tears. She managed to do it, although it was clear that it was hard for her to cry. Everyone around was calling an ambulance, lifting the motorcycle, asking how she was, saying that everything would be fine, everyone was worried. The girl sitting was shaking all over, crying and muttering that she was scared, what would happen to her now, what about her friend, would she be able to get up… I feel like all the space is filled with fear and concern. I told her: look me in the eyes. I had to repeat it several times for her to understand. She looked. I started speaking slowly: can you hear me, see me, understand me? – Yes. – So, everything is okay? – Yes. I felt her starting to calm down, as if she had found support. We looked into each other’s eyes in the muffled silence for a few seconds… Then the ambulance arrived, the girl was able to slowly stand up and sit on the seat by herself. I showed her a heart made of fingers on the ambulance window and went home. I walked and cried.
How often in a difficult situation all we need is just eye contact with a person to come to our senses, to feel our own support inside. And we so rarely do this! When we are vulnerable, powerless, lost, and this sometimes happens to each of us, let there be just a person nearby whom we can look in the eyes and see our own calmness and strength there.