It looks cold out.
"So wake me up when it's all over..."
The stubborn Midwest temperatures have finally, slowly sunk into something resembling an October. But in here, it's easy to pretend the spicy tea is a ward against the thermometer and not a balm for a weary heart.
In here, the accents are all different.
The group in front, having politely borrowed my spare chair, cluster around a square meter table- after all there is always room for one more- their quiet voices and gestures signaling their home.
Their familiarity makes my same-sized table feel far too big and far too empty.
"All this time I was finding myself..."
The loud electronica blaring in my headphones provides a remixed soundtrack to the images playing through my mind.
Young and old treading familiar steps together, whirling around; The large room made small by their joy and exuberance. A man, quietly dancing around the outside circle, is unable to contain himself any longer and explodes into doubletime expression - his limbs coiled in energy and power.
"Hope I get the chance to travel the world..."
There's the table with seats too tall to touch the floor filled with the result of a melting pot nation. "Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" indeed. Having just come from work, it's easier to see what they share than to list their differences. One's husband shows up, and there's familiar greetings and embraces around the table.
"...not afraid to close my eyes."
He is startled. I wonder if he's doubting his English comprehension. We settle that, yes I did go celebrate and dance with his people group. And I did it because I thought it was interesting and important.
I find myself with a dinner invitation I'm not sure how seriously to take.
There are three ages of globalization, the script reads. Really I should be watching the videos, but I'm far too behind to take the time. Each age is the product of that which came before it and the current climate. But all - for better or worse - are birthed when something "shakes us forward and shakes us free," as Rich said all those years ago.
"All this time I was finding myself and I didn't know I was lost."
