Mr. Schwartz's "You can't see breath but that doesn't mean it's not there."

I’ve been reflecting for a while on things that we can see and things that we cannot. Forces and reasons, like fists or food, impact us and nourish us and can give or take away. They leave bruises, all, whether or not too those bruises are visible ones.

It seems that from just after we’re very young, we have things to accomplish and people to console. We have hurt feelings and hurt resumes. Our transcripts, GPAs, and job histories are on paper and double in our minds as intangible dossiers of hurt or failure or success.  When we are teens we can and cannot see the effects of our actions and when we are adults it is the same. A friend gets hurt and we can help them. We see it literally in their faces, a broken look. We reach out to them with something we cannot see, like breath, but like that breath that does not mean it isn’t there. What we offer them is healing, and someday, whether we realize it or not, it is offered to us. We console and are consoled. We relate and are related to. A thousand invisible vibes and feelings surround us constantly and pass between us and pass on.

We have collections: coins, and dolls, and friends. If our pen runs out of ink we buy a new one or find one. The bus drives us home and liquid gas makes the bus run. These things are easy to see and easy to take for granted. Not as easy even to think of at all are those things we can’t see -- the feelings, thoughts, connections. These things are not valuable at all to the eye yet are why people matter more than we allow ourselves to appreciate sometimes.

We should take the time to think of the things we do not see.

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