Twilight Traveler (Guest Post)

It’s been over a month since I’ve posted here on my blog and I’ve been beating myself up about it. The inspiration just hasn’t come. And so I am grateful for the serendipity of a writing prompt this week — the unexpected twists and turns of life — because it’s a great opportunity to share my first Guest Post!

Enter David (@PenHitsPaper).

David’s my writing buddy from across the pond in the UK and he’s kept me motivated to write something, anything, even when I don’t feel like it. I am delighted that he chose to write a tribute of sorts to one of my blog posts from March — Dark Passenger — and that’s what you’ll be enjoying here below. Gracias, David, for keeping my spirits up and reminding me –

Why not think about times to come?
And not about the things that you’ve done.
If your life was bad to you
Just think what tomorrow will do

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Twilight Traveler, Written by David

A tribute to Dark Passenger.

A conversation I never knew I needed, inspired a story I didn’t realise I wanted to tell. But here, courtesy of Carolyna, I am about to let you in. 

As someone who writes, occasionally a word or a sentence can trigger a light bulb moment in your mind. Sometimes, people can have that impact on you without even trying, or knowing. That’s definitely the case in this scenario. 

I have often thought about times where I might want to change the course of my life, especially after a terrifying car accident left me counting my blessings, because with just a couple of different factors, or variables, I wouldn’t be here writing this, right now. I’d have gone in a crash of sound and light in 2017. That’s just a fact. So many factors aligned that day to make me, and the guy that hit me, be in that precise location, at that precise time, that led to him rear-ending me at high speed and sending me in a spin. Likewise, I was lucky that in rush hour on a Monday morning the week before Christmas, not one vehicle was travelling down the outside lane of the motorway as is normally the case. This meant that no one drove directly into the offside of my car where I was sat prone.

Anyway, what would you change if you had the chance? We all regularly make vital decisions with differing degrees of success. I honestly believe in parallel universes, that in another life I am doing things I dream of, or sharing my life with people I have lost, or I have even yet to meet.  However, in this life, we are where we are meant to be. Sometimes we don’t know why, but I firmly believe we each have a path, an invisible line that we travel down, that intersects with those that we meet, love and sometimes lose.

I mean, I only spoke to Carolyna because of a tweet about stickers. How many factors (and if you knew the full story it would increase your disbelief) do you think it took to make that conversation happen? Well, take these examples :

* First, we needed to have accounts and a common ground to be made aware of each other on Twitter (in this case it’s the writing community).
* Second, I needed to be following Carolyna, and when you think of the number of tweeters across the planet, that’s a long shot in itself.
* Third, Carolyna had to be in possession of those stickers.
* Fourth had Covid-19 not happened, those stickers wouldn’t have been available as they would have already been used up.
* Fifth, she not only had to compose that tweet, but I needed to be compelled to respond.
* Sixth I needed to be on twitter around the time she tweeted, to see it appear on my timeline.

These are just some of  OUR direct influences which ALL had to align.

Now external influences, if you go back in time then we wouldn’t have met if, back in 2006, Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams hadn’t created Twitter. 

Then if you go back even further, both sets of parents could have had very different lives, and we would not even exist. It really is mind blowing when you think about the millions of factors and possibilities that have led you to be sat here, reading my words. You may be in America, like Carolyna, or the UK like myself, or somewhere else on this planet. Yet here you are reading the words I composed on April 19^th 2020.

So, although like Carolyna, I wouldn’t risk changing anything, I am going to hop in my Delorean and travel back just under a year, back to June 2019.

I was in London, with someone I dated, about to watch Fleetwood Mac for my birthday. She was beautiful, funny, intelligent, sexy, kind, and determined. Here is the letter I’d stuff in my jeans pocket for my past self to read before having the most incredible couple of days when the world was a much different place.

Dear David in June,

It’s okay to let people go, even if you still like them and they haven’t really crossed you. Pain is never permanent, but always stings that bit harder when you don’t understand. So be patient, be kind, not just to others but to yourself.

Over the coming months you’re going to hurt and be hurt, and that’s okay, it’s not deliberate. Try and be kind to those you hurt, they will think its deliberate and done with malice, but the truth is, you don’t think rationally when you are suffering. Especially when you are not aware.

You are going to meet some wonderful new people and lose some of them. Everyone comes into your life for a reason, and you in theirs. Nothing is forever though, so don’t be afraid when things change. Even if you are desperate to fix some of the wrongs, sometimes you just have to let people go, even if you see they are struggling from afar and you just want to be that guy that helps, that fixes.

Your family and friends will come to mean so much more due to Coronavirus and the world will be on lockdown. Yes I know that’s inconceivable, but it’s true, the planet will fall silent while it heals and the world unites to try and save itself. The death toll will be greater than any war, but this lesson will teach you to value the time you spend with others. You will forge new ways of keeping up with friends, you will cherish the moments you can spend outdoors and you will see beauty around you and kindness in people you never thought possible. 

But back to you David. Accept what people tell you they want from life, support them, be patient, be kind and never take things personally. It’s not always about you, even though sometimes it feels like it. Encourage those you care about to spread their wings, even if it means they fly away from you. You get what you deserve, and sometimes, even though you think you want something, it’s part of a bigger plan. Don’t tie yourself in knots over feelings you can’t influence.

The last thing I need you to remember is trust your gut, and be confident. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t so don’t hold on in desperation for something just because you are used to it now. Have faith in yourself, your writing, and your ability to make people smile. You are funnier than you think, and kinder than anyone would know. As long as your confidence comes from things you know and not what you believe, it will never stray into that unpleasant trait of arrogance. 

Remember those that are kind to you and be selfless. You can’t control your reputation, but you can control your character and true, honest good people, will care more about your character and make informed decisions for themselves. You’re going to feel every emotion possible, so try and embrace and learn from every little incident, good and bad. You got this.

Now, go soak up that gig, and when this song hits, make sure you listen and absorb the words, as they mean more than you will ever realise –

“If you wake up and don’t want to smile, if it takes just a little while.
Open your eyes and look at the day, you’ll see things in a different way.
Don’t stop, thinking about tomorrow, don’t stop it’ll soon be here.
It’ll be, better than before, yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone”

Love, David in April

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Thank you, David, for these lovely words. During this time when most of us are locked away, the sharing of words takes on so much more meaning. These are gold. Keep traveling in that twilight and keep writing, mi amigo! And be so careful on the motorway!  xo, Carolyna

Post Image Credit: David

Check out David’s blog https://thepenhitspaper.wordpress.com/ and find him on Twitter @PenHitsPaper.