My husband and I began our adventure at DIA in Denver where we followed the throngs to stations. The entire airport reminds me of a preschool setting for adults with lines and centers.
As we turned the corner to the beginning of the line for security, we were still in "milling" mode with families, couples, individuals and jockeying for position as we came to the "opening" in the maze we were about to enter.
Everyone was talking, laughing, crying and generally being engaged. Noisy and crowded.
As we entered the labyrinth, I stopped in my tracks. People stopped talking and jostling and connecting. They just began walking.
In an attempt to make contact, I tried to say "Good Morning" to my friends on the other side of the rope and they looked shocked. Almost as if they didn't know what to do with it.
I walked slowly (driving my husband crazy) and made eye contact with as many people as I could attempting to engage them with a smile. About one in five returned my smile. Most kept their eyes fixed on the person in front of them. Even kids followed obediently behind obedient parents.
A young man with a beard and a bright hat and matching backpack and sparkle in his eye, was all up for a conversation though which I loved!
Next trip, I will have a new phone...with video!
Through the maize and to the belts we went. TA leading the way over the divide and through the xray. (Not sure where that came from. But it's fun.)
How many labrynths are we walking through asleep in our lives? Are we present and intentional in our relationships? Relationships with our spouse and our kids. Work. Friends. Most importantly, our relationship with God. We don't think. We walk. We tend to live without reflection and without purpose or intentionality. Afraid to ask "Why am I walking through this in this way?"
My son told me about 18 and over night in the bars where underage kids are partitioned off and served non alcoholic drinks but can come and meet people their age. All I could say was, teaching them how to walk and giving them procedural memory.
We have to be careful and thoughtful as to what we normalize as a culture and a society. In my mind someone has set the labyrinths for a purpose.
As Wiki says, "Procedural memory is memory for the performance of particular types of action. Procedural memory guides the processes we perform and most frequently resides below the level of conscious awareness. When needed, procedural memories are automatically retrieved and utilized for the execution of the integrated procedures involved in both cognitive and motor skills, from tying shoes to flying an airplane to reading. Procedural memories are accessed and used without the need for conscious control or attention. Procedural memory is a type of long-term memory and, more specifically, a type of implicit memory. Procedural memory is created through "procedural learning" or, repeating a complex activity over and over again until all of the relevant neural systems work together to automatically produce the activity. Implicit procedural learning is essential to the development of any motor skill or cognitive activity."
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