Strangers in a strange world
In an attempt to be more appreciative of this odd existence, I’ve been keeping a running list of random human moments I think are wholesome & ridiculous. I’ve travelled pretty nonstop the past year and half- a lot of the time myself- and in the midst of constant motion & absorption of knowledge, comes the occasional surge of isolation. For better or worse, loneliness & contemplation are a bit inevitable when you put yourself out there and go do shit by yourself. Without it, growth and liberation can never happen. In those difficult spurts, I’ve constantly found solace in the observation of strangers. There’s something deeply comforting in realizing each individual is living their own complex life, all while the collective human experience remains.
We all chat & crack up & stumble & flirt & cry & argue & struggle & love deeply in some way or another. It’s true what they say: everyone does in fact, shit.
Here are the beginnings of my list, observations on strangers:
A fabulous grandma with giant sunglasses knits a purple sweater on the beach at Lake Hāwea. Both wired headphones in. Funky earrings dangling. Dogs out. Enough said.
A small boy runs from a flock of geese. He thinks they may be attacking him. He may be right.
Two Norwegian women sit on the porch of a yellow cabin on the fjord. A bottle of red accompanies them. They have their eyes closed & heads pointed up. It had been raining the past 4 days. They absorb the sun in silence.
An eclectic group of thirty somethings scream& giggle as they ski a pitch in Asahidake. It’s the deepest snow of all time. Their joy makes it impossible not to smile.
A girl in her twenties walks solo down a street in Revelstoke. She’s dressed as a cool/interesting/artistic person might dress. She slips on her ass. She looks at an invisible camera and all the sudden, she’s Jim Halpert.
A man sings the blues on the subway in Brooklyn. The concept of being perceived doesn’t seem to bother him. He has the demeanor of someone who’s seen more than most. His voice still lingers.
Two people lay on their paddle boards in the middle of Donner Lake, engulfed by the deep blue. Their hands skim the water. They’re laughing.
A kiwi father/daughter split a chocolate muffin on the deck at Treble Cone. The daughter has messy hair & wild eyes. The music blares. The dad asks her to “name the artist”. It was Alice in Chains. (She got it)
An old woman sits cross legged at a grave in Kabelvåg. It’s a new grave. The wind blows as it grieves with her. She holds a watering can and a handful of lilacs.
The most Italian couple you’ve ever seen rush from the beach to catch the ferry from Positano to Amalfi. The wife uses the husband's head to balance while he wipes the sand from her feet. Once her shoes are on, they switch, her role has now developed to foot wiper.
A small girl walks up to an even smaller girl and hands her a drawing. It’s of the sun.
A guy smacks his head on the overhead compartment on a hot, slightly too small plane. He proceeds to drop his bag and on his way back up from grabbing it, smacks his head a second time. He looks up & we happen to catch eye contact. Laughter explodes.
5 girls sit in lawn chairs in the Palisades parking lot. They’re grilling up some dogs. Coronas in hand, all 5 sing “Have you ever seen the rain.”
A man sprints after a paper bag he dropped in Innsbruck. He almost gets hit by a car. Eco warrior.
Approximately 12 old Spanish folk get pushed in their wheelchairs down the thinnest, steepest cobblestone street in Cadaqués. It’s a single file type deal. They are absolutely not worried about it.
A mother and daughter see one another from afar at the airport in Oslo. They have the same eyes. They sprint towards each other as tears stream.
A man plays the trumpet in the street. A woman covered in mystical tattoos dances like a lunatic beside him.
A young woman writes in her notebook on the train from Otaru to Sapporo. She looks up every so often, to see where the snow meets the sea.
