A few weeks ago, I was running late for my flight. The whole morning seemed “off”. Usually, waking up so rudely to a 3am alarm for a flight can do that! At security, I studied the lines to see which was going faster. A nice family noticed my urgency and let me in front of them. I ran down the concourse as I just made the flight with the jetway door shutting behind me. I breathed a sigh of relief as I waited at the front of the plane to take my seat. In my frazzled stupor, something caught my attention.
The flight attendant called to the jetway saying, “Doors have been closed. There are 237 souls on board.” Now, I know this is common protocol for a flight, but what caught my attention was the word SOULS. Not bodies, if we don’t make it, but SOULS. How crushingly beautiful I felt in that moment to be human. How rare. We have a soul. And it is divine and precious as the door of the plane slammed shut. I smiled and looked at all my fellow traveler’s souls with a newer, kinder awareness.
So, I looked up the word, as I got more curious.
Soul- the spiritual part of a human being, regarded as immortal. Juxtapose this with a news story I saw recently that somewhat disturbs me. Levi Strauss is the first clothing company to use AI models wearing their jeans. The end of an era….Levi Strauss himself must be rolling over in his grave considering his company in 2023. I may be a dying breed, but not only do we lose jobs for people as AI becomes more and more used, but we lose SOUL.
About halfway through the flight, we experienced some pretty rough turbulence. I looked at the teenage soul next to me and she was terrified. I held her hand, despite my fear, and told her all will be okay.
Souls on board. Helping each other. A smile. Holding someone’s had who is scared. Allowing a fellow traveler to go ahead in line. It’s all small stuff. But in the end, huge. We need each other. We have more at our fingertips, but so much less without the company of each other. I encourage you to see everyone you meet as a soul, pure and immortal. I think you will love the results.
We are all souls on board and we’re going all the way together,
Nancy