To give something away is a pretty open suggestion. I hadn't been giving it too much thought until time began besting us in our afternoon/evening out on the town. We'd been enjoying ourselves immensely, eating a lovely lunch, catching an incredible film, walking while sipping warm beverages, and the sun, trickster that it is, decided to settle in (So Early!) for the evening.
So: Faced with the impending darkness of a night that has been making itself known earlier, and earlier, and altogether too early to make any sense whatsoever, we decided to quicken our steps in pursuit of something to give away.
After about an hour in pursuit of the aforementioned something, I settled upon a record I have known, and liked, and loved, and lost: Joanna Newsom's Ys. This record is very good. It is. Indeed. And I desired to give it away, to someone, a stranger, who had hopefully never heard of her, or her strangely titled album. And so we walked about, crossed streets, stood in front of the new Uncle Dan's store in Evanston, and waited.
Moments later, Jen and Chris paid their parking meter and were approached by Jan and I, as innocently as possible, with a short explanation of what we've been doing here at dependent co-arising. Jen had never heard of Joanna Newsom, so I offered her the album.
It was a simple enough transaction, verging on the outrageous. Such actions rarely, perhaps never, take place. Positive confrontations with strangers who'd like to give you a gift? No questions asked? Preposterous! Perhaps. But also wonderful, and freeing, and lovely.
I hope Jen and Chris had/have a good night. I hope Jen enjoys the album, and if not, no problem. The act, the experience, was valuable enough.
If you, Jen or Chris, remember the web-address of this lil' blog, thank you for participating, for receiving a gift, and take care!
