Lost and Found

I'm absolutely captivated by the television series LOST.

I don't think I'm quite as consumed as these folks, but I'm hooked, nonetheless.

Not only is the show a great drama, but it is filled with mystery and intrigue. Each week the show divulges fragments about the survivors lives that all factor into a much larger puzzle. Sadly, for each question answered the viewer is left with three more new mysteries.

The show plays heavily on two of my favorite concepts, which are, "everything happens for a reason" and "six degrees of separation".

The idea behind the former indicates a belief that every action you make, no matter how insignificant, is constantly shaping and affecting the world around you. Furthermore, every consequence of those actions (good or bad) exists to teach you something fundamental that you need to learn in order to grow and survive both mentally and physically. Most people will dismiss this as "metaphysical baloney", but if you truly examine where your actions have led you through life then you might consider the existence of this possibility. Sometimes things happen in your life that even foreshadow future events.

Many years ago I was working at a movie theater in Knoxville and one day some of the ushers were talking about a local radio DJ they listened to named "Ripley". They talked about how funny she was (mentioning something about big boobs) and asked if I ever listened to or met her. I had caught part of her show once, but I didn't really think about it too much. That night, after I got off work, I went to the sports grille next door to have a beer and unwind before going home for the night. I sat down at the bar and within a few minutes someone pulled up a chair beside me. It was a young, energetic, funny female that immediately struck up a conversation with me. Eventually I discovered that the girl talking to me was "Ripley". Perhaps it was all a strange coincidence, but it seemed very odd that I was having a conversation about her earlier that day only to meet her that night. We've been together for nearly 8 years now.

The other recurring factor in LOST is the theory of "six degrees of separation". If you are unfamiliar with this concept it states that anyone on earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than six intermediaries. There have been experiements to prove this theory, one using mailed packages to a target destination in 1967 and another using e-mail in 2001. Both experiements came to the conclusion that, in fact, it took betwen 5 and 7 intermediaries for the package/e-mail to reach its goal. This inspired the phrase "six degress of separation". On LOST every character is connected without them even realizing it. Some of these connections have been exposed, but I predict these unknown links go much deeper than have been revealed.Sometimes you can share multiple connections with other people without ever knowing it.

I was at a job interview once with a woman and after talking about work and experience we realized that we had worked together many years previously at the same location, although in different departments. As we continued to talk I noticed a picture of her children on her desk. I thought they looked vaguely familiar. We both suddenly realized that I had worked at the same elementary school her children had attended and actually taught them years before. These types of connections are always there, but most are never discovered. I guarantee that there is a similar link between myself and every person that reads this post. I know it sounds strange, but the experiments I mentioned have already proved its truth.

Much like the TV show LOST I believe that in our lives for every connection lost or forgotten another one is found. Likewise, for every choice made we are creating and affecting our world around us. The next time something seems bizarre or like a complete coincidence there may be more of a link there than you realize.

Until next time!

Sincerely,
Your friend, of your roommate's, cousin's, neighbor's, aunt's, boss's nephew.