What Comes to My Mind When I See You

“Heart, soul, blood, bone
Hurt, hope, pain, love”

Photo source: Anthony Tran

I felt to share this side of me with you. And you’ll read it. It’s about what comes to my mind when I see you.

When I see people for the first time, my mind may do several impulsive “imaginings” about what makes them who they are. And when I see them again, the mind might continue from where it stopped. (Untiring, hardworking mind.)

It’s usually so when I don’t have to talk with the person immediately… just glaring at them from a distance, or merely glancing at them if they are in proximity, then imagining all the stuff.

Now, I won’t spare you the details. Here you have them:

If You’re a Child: Your Innocence + Your Reality

Just seeing a child, my mind could get busy thinking about how he sees the world, or how his immediate environment could influence the person he is becoming.

“He’s so innocent.” “He doesn’t know shit.” “He hasn’t done shit.” And, I might take it personally: “Please, he shouldn’t do shit.”

I remember meeting a boy days ago, and I couldn’t help saying a prayer in my mind — like, “God, please, help him not to miss it. Let nothing steal this twinkle in his eyes.”

If You’re a Young Person: Your Naivety + Your Reality

I know that young people — people in their teenage and young adult years — are commonly stupid. I know this because I’m one of them. And I’ve listened to many of them. We are a naive lot about many things.

When I see a young person, my mind may muse about one or some of these: “What kind of man is he becoming?” “Who does he walk like (his dad?)?” “What kind of music could be shaping his mind?” “Who does she copy her dress style from?” “Which celebrity could be influencing her?” “When she gets older, will she look like her mum?” “What could be behind the way she carries herself?”

On my way to church the day I wrote this paragraph, I remember seeing four young men, from a distance, sitting on a short brick wall at a car wash. As soon as they were on my mind’s radar, I began to analyze the possible realities of their lives. “What could be their pains, wins, struggles, etc.?” “What bothers them and what doesn’t?” “What worldviews do they hold?” “How do they see religion?”

If You’re Elderly: Your Experiences + Your Reality

Elderly people — the ones I call “veterans” — are the category that engages my mind the most.

Whenever my mind is conscious of a much older person’s presence, it wanders from what their regrets are…to how handsome or beautiful they may have looked in their younger years…to why they get so worked up about certain things.

Many first times, meeting an elder can have me thinking, “Did he have this strange personality or attitude when he was like me?” “Will I grow older to be reasoning like him?” “Was he ambitious like me?” “How does she see me from her standpoint?” “How did men see her when she was younger?” “How does her husband see her now?”

For one, thinking about older people helps me stay humble and on my toes. I won’t always be this young. Life is short. I should maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Did you read everything up to this point? If you did, you now know what could come to my mind when I see you.

Do we have something in common?

“Heart, soul, blood, bone
Hurt, hope, pain, love
We’re all heart, soul, blood, bone
Looking for a connection

Seems like every time I look in the mirror
I struggle to see my own reflection
But when I look in your eyes, I can see it alright
Can’t deny there’s some kind of human connection, and that we’re all…

Made up of the same kind of materials
We’re all cut from the same kind of cloth
Now I can see it in your face, we come from the same place
Different in ways, but in many we’re not

We’re all heart, soul, blood, bone
Hurt, hope, pain, love
We’re all heart, soul, blood, bone
Looking for a connection

Seems like anytime I look out my window
We’ve gotten further and further away
We keep drawing more lines, that divide you and I
Keep losing sight of our shared DNA…

And how we’re walking this earth with eight billion people
With so much in common, we want just to be held and to hold
To live and grow old
Still we think we’re alone, but really we’re not

We’re all heart, soul, blood, bone
Hurt, hope, pain, love
We’re all heart, soul, blood, bone
Looking for a connection”

(From the song, “Heart Soul Blood Bone” by Chris Renzema)