Walking home from a meeting in my Santa Monica neighborhood today, I saw a group of Mexican workers lying under a big pine tree. Apparently they were on their lunch break, resting, sleeping, or quietly chatting with each other.
Watching them gave me an instant sense of peacefulness and reminded me of my time at high school in Chile. Twice a week we had afternoon classes and spent our lunch break with friends, venturing into nearby stores to buy food or sitting in groups on the school lawn, resting, letting the sun drench us, laughing and chatting.
Remembering this instantly filled my body with warmth and happiness. Being in the company of good friends provides such a feeling of belonging and safety (In German we call it “Geborgenheit”). It drains away the fear and loneliness that at times invades our day-to-day routines of stress and hard work.
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Photo Source: Gwennypics via Flickr under a Creative Commons License
