[disjointed]
I’ve just finished reading John Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat. The novel summarises itself within the Preface:
“This is the story of Danny and of Danny’s friends and of Danny’s house. It is a story of how these three became one thing … This story deals with the adventuring of Danny’s friends, with the good they did, with their thoughts and their endeavours.”
and with the final sentences of the novel:
“Danny’s friends … looked at one another strangely, and then back at the burned house. And after a while they turned and walked slowly away, and no two walked together.”
People are brought together through common interest or thought. But people, in their nature, change, or their surroundings alter. Letting go is so often healthier than struggling to hold on.
It reminds me of the words from James Young’s Nico : Songs They Never Place On The Radio:
“It’s funny ‘ow yer think that someone’s just a phase in your life – when yer might just be a phase in theirs.”
People often influence me without their realising. But it’s a certain shock when you’re told that you’ve influenced someone else.
I don’t think I could be happy without mentors. My mentors never know their role, it’s a secret I withhold. They’re close friends that I turn to when I’m bothered, frustrated, or don’t quite know which way to go.
If I was to tell them they were mentors, they’d probably cease to be able to assist.
There’s a joy in spending time talking with a stranger and in retrospect realising that you both clicked together perfectly. So the question is, do you attempt to click again when the surroundings are different?
Wariness failed many men.