Human Connections

“Because you know what happens when you say ‘hello’ or ‘good morning?’ You make a connection. And isn’t that what being human is all about?” ~ Philip Rosenthal

So, Barry and I decided to watch this new show on SyFy channel, (Why they changed the spelling to that is beyond me) called Resident Alien. It’s a sci-fi comedy about an alien who was sent to plant a device that would kill off the human race. But his ship gets hit by lighting and the device is lost in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, his ship crashes, and he’s got to find the device to complete his mission. What to do? He finds a human living in a remote cabin. He kills him and takes his form. He thinks no one will interact with him but, of course, that’s where the story begins. There’s been a murder in the small town, and since the person who was murdered was the town doctor, the Sheriff comes to him to examine the body, because his human counterpart was a doctor.

Obviously, it’s a fish-out-of-water kind of story. But in the very first episode, the alien notices that humans long for, and create connections with each other and in his narration says, “That may be their greatest strength.” And I think he’s right.

I admit that I love being quiet at home, but yesterday when I was teaching my acting class, I did enjoy the connections with my students even though it was via Zoom. It’s fun to watch them try the acting techniques and do amazing things even if this is their first attempt at acting.

It is my philosophy that anyone can be a good actor. We are, after all doing it all the time. But one thing I’ve always loved about theatre and its iterations is that the actors connect the audience to the story which is always about the ins and outs of human connections, or sometimes disconnections.

If we look for them, we can find stories of humans making connections all the time even in real life. This morning I read a sweet story about Marine Capt. Evan Campbell who assisted Lady Gaga to her place at the mic to sing the National Anthem at the Presidental Inauguration. He said she looked at him and said something like, “we have an equal chance of tripping on this dress.” And when she seemed nervous about singing, he assured her she would do great. It was then that she asked him to pray with her. He was touched by her down-to-earth manner and I was touched by their brief but very real human connection.

During these difficult times, I seek out stories with strong human connections, where love is the main theme. That’s why I love doing my Story~Power podcast. I get to connect with people who love stories as much as I do and even though we’re only talking over Zoom, I feel a deep connection with them. Another perk is that I get to hear about stories I’ve never known about but might want to check out.

Connecting with others is a vital part of being alive for me. I have at times thought what it would be like to be stranded on a desert island like Tom Hanks character in Castaway, but even though I’m an introvert and love being alone, there would come a point where I might go crazy as he almost did from not having any human interaction at all.

In the spirit of human connectedness, I’d like to thank Buzzweed, Juan Jaya, drjurishama – The 3H: health, happiness, healing, and Dirty Scifi Buddha, for liking my podcast post with one of my acting students, David Featherston, “Basketball to Theatre”, episode 7. I tried to connect with all of you, but ran into some difficulty, so I’m thanking you here. Even a like for one of my blog or podcast posts creates a human connection. 

Have a fantastic weekend all. I hope your human connections are positive.

Blessings,

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2021

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a new podcast where she and her guests discuss the stories in all formats that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.