A simple event, an irrevocable change

A friend often talks about how the simplest of events can irrevocably change our lives. 

Flowers gather on the
Sydney Rd footpath
where Jill Meagher
was last seen by CCTV
cameras.

Should we pause for a few moments, he argues, to say “hello” to a friend we have actively, but not consciously, re-shaped our lives.

That brief stop for what was a seemingly innocuous chat shifted our lives from one paradigm onto a wholly new footing with new horizons opening and some hopes and dreams closing down.

That is, granted, somewhat dramatic, but when considered analytically, it is true.

Life, no matter how hard you might try to control it or comply with your hope and dreams, or respond to other yearnings, there is a rogue randomness about our lives.

A few seconds spent talking with a friend folds almost invisibly into our lives and beyond the relative importance of the exchange, it is not seen, mostly, as having any significant relevance to how our lives are evolving.

Examples of life’s randomness abound with the most recent being the abduction, rape and murder of Melbourne ABC reporter, Jill Meagher, on Saturday morning.

Jill Meagher - witty
and intelligent.

That random event began seemingly innocuously and ended in a rather grisly way – desperately sad for Jill Meagher, her family, friends and workmates, and in what must have been a fleeting opportunistic decision, the perpetrator’s life changed forever.

Considering such moments in life, we can all torture ourselves with a million “what ifs”, but that will not do any good for as a friend told me years ago what is “is” and cannot be changed regardless of hope, prayers or actions.

The randomness of life is non-negotiable.

Interestingly it is something we cannot avoid, we can twist, turn, manipulate, take this or that stand, but never can we divorce randomness from our lives, but importantly, and strangely, it is that randomness that brings life fully alive.

Blandness awaits those who attempt to remove randomness from their daily affairs and sidestep its impact and even worse it can bring on a noticeable neurosis that can manifest itself in ways that play out in moments such as those on Brunswick’s Sydney Road on Saturday morning.

Of course the mysterious randomness of life does not always necessarily lead to grim or bad moments for equal to those who can point to difficulties; tragedy and disaster are those who can illustrate happenings that were happy, enlightening and rewarding.

Random and unplanned moments have led to wonderful life-long relationships, business successes, and serendipitous discoveries for which no-one can take responsibility short of saying that “they were in the right place at the right time.”

Of course, there is the opposite and what apparently began as a simple event for Jill Meagher changed her life irrevocably.