The Bridge

The bridge was very symbolic on this Goa trip….  

The bridge is a symbol of connection and shared understanding. It can represent the process of building relationships and meaningful connections.”  

It was from one side of Goa to another where I was on the back of a motor bike connecting with locals, hearing their life stories, and sharing our lives with one another. It seems like “just a ride,” but they were educational, spiritual, enlightening and a textbook “cultural exchange,” which to emphasize is the main reason to travel not 5 star hotels, butlers, interacting with tourists the whole time, and only going on tours to learn about a country. I learned so much about India directly from the source and not from media, books, or movies….it was the most authentic experience and exhilarating on the back of the bike with the breeze in your face, the moonlit sky, and the stars above….there is nothing like it really.  

If I could record these conversations…all of them…in India…it would make a beautiful story, but without cameras and without recording…I can’t remember it all, but I remember how it made me feel… and the emphasis is that these connection do not just happen from luck…it is God and it is fate that beautiful locals are always coming my direction.  

Sometimes we need a bridge to connect our heart to another’s. Sometimes life gets lonely and connecting with a new person who shares your values and belief system it reminds you that, “You are not different, but you are just human.”  

People who connect to your spirit are good people who know fundamentally who you are whereas you can know some people for a whole life time and they have absolutely no idea who you really are….that is my family….they are strangers to my true reality.  

 

This leads me to the one man who I met near the festival. He said that he could give me a ride over the bridge because he lived in that direction. I hopped on he had a bag he moved and I noticed it had the bible inside. I mentioned it and he said he had a bible study group. Naturally we spoke about our religion as Christians.  

I had been struggling per usual with family rejection and I was on a rant that God made us who we are and we are not supposed to give attention to the judgement from others. I felt so judged by my Indian family….and of course it is so difficult to understand my life having this instant connection with others, but I felt they did not want to learn.  They want to believe I am one way and nothing really will change that because their lifestyle is superior to mine…that is usually the Indian way.   

He shared that he also feels judgement from his family because he is not married and does not have kids and he is 30 years old.  He talks about being single, feeling free, and enjoying the religious time of Christmas. We immediately connect on this life of not answering to anyone really….. 

                       The only person that we need to answer to is God.   

His family live in Tamil Nadu and he stays in Goa by himself and enjoys his work being a Physical therapist healing people from their aches and pains.  We are both healers. We united together this night to remind each other that we do not need to conform to a socially constructed society whether America or India. We are Christian's leading good lives with a solid identity and honorable values and morals.

If people choose to judge us because we do not have a partner, we are not married, and we do not live with our family-that is their loss. If people think they are better because they have money and that makes them better human beings-good for them. We can cross this bridge knowing that there will always be someone on the other side. There will be someone who loves us for who we are. There will be strange on the other side waiting to hear our story and connect with who we are as Christians. We have only one who judges us, who loves us unconditionally, who feels are pain, and sends us angels....that is God.  

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