8.21.24 // Neon Signs

They say the questions that dance in your mind, that you hold deep in your heart, won’t be answered with big flashing neon lights…
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But at 9:10 pm, sitting on the hydrangea-lined concrete balcony of my Chamonix Airbnb, a band burst into life a few blocks away in town. I’m sitting alone and watching the last bit of light fade through the paper-thin clouds gathering around the tops of the French Alps. The chill in the air has just started to become known.
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One of my favorites, “Breath” by Pink Floyd, floats through the air.
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“Home, home again. I like to be here when I can.” Stretches through the air as the words and views of the mountains wrap around me… It feels intoxicating; I ask myself if it's the jet lag.
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Then, my second favorite Pink Floyd song… "Time" comes on. “Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown. Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.” Shivers shoot down my spine as the fantom voice carries over the trees.
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It isn’t neon lights.
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It isn't a visual but an audio queue, sparking my mind to make connections.
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Maybe it’s a connection that only exists in my mind. Maybe some would even say it’s just a coincidence, or I’m seeing connections that aren’t there…
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And to be fair, I was that person, someone who, over the last year, stopped believing the coincidences, stopped seeing them or listening to them show up in front of me. I became someone who retreated towards the logical with an occasional "oh how crazy" moment.
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But that isn’t me. I yearn to find the connections and the coincidences, and I've always relished them sneaking up on me in beautiful and sometimes challenging ways. So, as the Pink Floyd set wrapped up, I felt an old me coming to the surface again. I felt the magic in my blood lighting up in a way I hadn't felt in a long time.
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So, while the songs played in the French air, with lyrics so ingrained in my mind, surrounded by the mountain views I'd fallen in love with over and over again over the years, an old stirring, a neon sign lit in my mind. Questions were being answered, and my true self was sought and found.