I’ve been thinking about stories lately. I sat in my university’s plaza and just watched people walk by. Yes, I people watched but I wasn’t awkwardly creeping on them or necessarily judging them, just making observations as they pass.
Football jersey, maybe he’s a sports fan. Snowboarding jacket, winter sports lover. Cute clothes, sense of style. But those premature observations and initial hypothesizes about someone didn’t really matter. It didn’t tell a story.
I always ask people, “what’s your story?” and most of the time I receive a look that is somewhere between “are you crazy?” and “what does that mean?” But I’m completely serious. Every person has a past, present and future. In this unwritten case, it’s a beginning, middle and an end.
All of our stories are intertwined. The phrase “it’s a small world” comes in handy here. There have been several times that I have walked into a room of people and found out that we are connected through this intricate network, always more than we think. It’s so fantastic.
So what do I know of these strangers walking past me, not even acknowledging my existence? Absolutely nothing. Maybe through this web of a world I do know them. Through a friend, through a club, activity, job, the list goes on and on.
I won’t judge on when they walk by and I won’t make predetermined statements about who someone truly is without knowing them first. But I always wonder.
So, what’s your story? I’ll listen.
Stay excellent,
Eva
