Sonder

A few years ago, I went to a small, remote ski town in the middle of Colorado, taking a route through parts of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Along the way, I saw so many other travelers. We only had small moments: a brief “hello,” a nod, a have a good day. Nothing more. But it made me wonder. Every person I saw must have had a life just as tangled and complex as mine. A life with ups and downs, losses and small wins. The saddest part is knowing I could never know them. In a weird way, I wanted to love their lives, see what they carried, feel what they hoped for. But you can’t. And this sadness is one that never goes away. One that ebbs and flows. Makes you realize you are rather small in this world: not as important as you think. It’s the loneliness of knowing there are millions of lives you will never know. Just another human. To others, just another face in the rearview mirror.