Is there some one else to catch this drift?

We live in a world where there are billions of people, each of them busy with their own lives. It is easy to feel alone, like your life is solitary and inconsequential. But, on the rare occasion that someone is interested or intrigued enough to take a moment to peer into your life, it somehow all seems worth it.

I recently was searching the web for a recipe for Norwegian konfektkake, which is like chocolate cake, and I stumbled upon a blog with a recipe for this cake posted on it. It was a young Christian woman from Norway, a few years younger than myself. I was struck by her maturity and insight into the Christian life. She spoke with the knowledge and humility of someone three times her age. She reminded me of my grandmother, or a young Ruth Bell Graham. I wonder if she knew that an American girl thousands of miles away was reading her blog, that someone so far away took an interest in her life and writing. I felt in tune with what she had to say; even though we couldn't be more different, I got her thoughts, they clicked with me.

The lives of others are to me a constant source of interest and curiosity. How different are they than me? What goes on in the minds and hearts of other people, with whom, on the surface anyway, it seems I have nothing in common. Deep down, I have always hoped that there were those people out there that were interested also in me, how alike I was to them, how I thought. I yearn so much for deep connections instead of shallow, surface friendships. To borrow from Alannis Morrisette, what I wouldn't give to find a soulmate, someone else to catch this drift! And what I would give to meet a kindred! Instead of explaining or talking just to sit and be known by another person. Being something for someone is tiring, but to just be, no pretenses, no masks, and to be understood and embraced, that would be nirvana for me. It's like trying to hold two full buckets of water with your arms outstretched. The first few moments would not be too bad but it quickly becomes utterly exhausting. I long to feel at ease in the presence of others, completely at ease. To feel that what is going on inside my mind and heart is not so far out there, that I am not the freak I feel like, to connect. You know what I mean? To be in sync.

The most obvious example of this might be when you read a poem or hear a song lyric and somehow it just speaks to you. For just a moment you feel that you know exactly what the author of said prose meant, exactly what they felt when they penned that, no matter how different the person may be from you. When this occurs in real time conversation, in real life, the spark of connection is sublime. It is one of the best feelings, to know that you are understood and someone else out there knows exactly what you mean. I yearn for this kind of connection, to feel like I am linked in some way with another.