Touchstones

I never cared much for the cold weather. And these days of constant rain and heavy winds have been inconvenient. I especially get frustrated when the sudden drop in temperature causes me to wake up in the middle of the night. Then, it becomes a struggle of figuring out how thick the blankets should be or if the blankets should cover me all the way to my chin or just to my waist. (I must have been a fussy baby!) Well, it was inconvenient until I learned this little trick. I just put socks on. Apparently, keeping my feet warm is good enough to last me the entire night. And I am just in that perfect temperature to enjoy the crisp night air, but feel warm enough to drift off to sleep.

Who knew that socks would do the trick? And who knew, that keeping one’s feet warm would be enough to keep one’s entire self warm? (I’m guessing this is common sense to other people but it’s new to me!) Sometimes, little things can last us a long time – like how that particular aroma of freshly baked bread can remind us of home when we’re homesick. Or how hearing our favorite song can lift our spirits after a particularly stressful day. Or how seeing a photograph can make us revel in the good ‘ol days. There are some moments that we come home to, too.

Part of growing up is of learning to gather as many touchstone moments in our lives as we can. Perhaps they are moments of extreme clarity and peace in prayer – that absolute knowing that God exists and He loves us. Perhaps they are moments of profound insight when the desires of our hearts resonate with the life that we are living. Perhaps they are moments of deep love shared with family and friends and significant others. Perhaps they are moments of pure joy, experiences so completely freeing and consoling that we secretly tell ourselves, “Maybe this is what heaven feels like.”

These touchstone moments center us and keep us grounded when things are unclear or even when we get lost in the humdrum of everyday life. We think back to those moments of clarity, peace, insight, love and joy and we strengthen ourselves until the next part of our journey. Sometimes, they become the yardstick for which we measure other experiences. They help us hold out for something better that’s just beyond our grasp, because we believe that if it happened once before, it can happen again.

And just as there are touchstone experiences, there are also touchstone people. People we come home to. People who for some reason may drift away from us because our daily lives take us elsewhere but whom we seek out when we want to remind ourselves of who we are. Many of the friends that I grew up with have moved away. And yet, in a span of a phone call, we can easily pick up where we left off. Or in the midst of personal trials, we seek each other out.  And as the conversation flows and the words come tumbling out, we encounter that sense of comfort and strength. Perhaps it is because these people remind us of our real selves.

We gather touchstone experiences in our lives the way ants gather food for a rainy day. We keep them in our hearts or in our metaphorical sock drawer so that we can take them out when we need to, on cold and stormy days, and wear them on our feet. And hopefully, they will keep us warm until the storm passes or until the next touchstone moment arrives.