Baby Kidnapper, Torturer, Yoga Classmate

Context is everything.

For the past few months, I've encountered a mysterious woman in the yoga studio who seemed vaguely familiar. She was older, distinctly European, with a piercing gaze. Eye contact with this woman was an unsettling experience because her gaze, intentionally or not, both implores and judges you with an acute sense of dramatic urgency.

As I'd look at her, I'd think: I know this woman from somewhere. And yet, for the life of me, I couldn't think of any context in which I would become acquainted with an older, European woman. What's worse, as we made eye contact, there was a glint of recognition in her eyes, as if she recognized me as well. Quite the conundrum.

Infrequently, I would enter the studio, make eye contact with this woman in the lobby, be slightly haunted and disquieted by the experience, and then promptly forget about her as I entered class. (I never spent any time pondering the mystery of this woman, as my focus in yoga class, is as always, yoga. But of course.)

Finally, it hit me: I knew where I had seen this woman before. The reason why my mind had failed to place her was because she was firmly removed from her proper context: a mysterious jungle island filled with supernatural phenomena.

My classmate was Rousseau. The crazy French lady from the television show Lost. The one who kidnaps infants and tortures people with electrical current. And the reason why I saw the recognition in her eyes was that she knew I had seen her on the show. Even though I myself didn't know that yet.

In my mind, my belief in her character and the universe she inhabited nullified the existence of the actress who portrays said character. And invalidated the possibility of her taking yoga with me.

My mind simply refused to recognize her because the island of Lost was REAL.

And it didn't hesitate to send subtle warnings about this woman, as if I were in danger of being kidnapped and tortured.

Context is everything.