Since moving to Brooklyn, I’ve been spending a lot more time outside walking around. Which makes perfect sense - we sold our cars, and we take Kodak on several walks per day now that he doesn’t have a yard to run around in. Living somewhere walkable and spending more time outside means that naturally, I cross paths with many different people every day.
I’ve had 3 different interactions over the past 3 days that I can’t stop thinking about. Maybe the universe is trying to teach me something, or maybe I can’t help trying to find meaningful lessons in trivial everyday life, but here they are:
Slow down
Today we had absolutely perfect weather, and a dog named River taught me to slow down and enjoy it.
While I was walking Kodak around the block this morning, I saw another guy walking his dog farther down the street. That dog (River, as I found out later) was sniffing around in a little soil area underneath a tree. Apparently River found the perfect spot, because he decided to sit down right there, facing the sun with a big, content, cheesy smile on his face.
I noticed the owner try unsuccessfully to get River to keep it moving, and then give up. When I got close enough, I mentioned “That might be the happiest dog I’ve ever seen.” The owner responded with something like “Yeah, he loves the sun and just wants to sit outside and bask in it all day!”
We chatted a bit more, but as I rushed back home to get to work, I couldn’t get that happy dog face out of my head. No stress, not in a hurry, not a care in the world, just sitting there in the dirt enjoying some sunshine. I think River has life all figured out.
What’s the best that could happen?
The other day I walked by a lady who looked like she might be going through a rough time. She was sitting outside on the sidewalk barefoot, wearing stained clothes and staring off into space with a pretty grim expression.
Kodak, very excited to find someone at his level, started pulling towards her to say hi as we got closer. I didn’t want to intrude on this person’s moment, but when she looked up and saw Kodak, she started BEAMING. “Oh my goodness, hi baby! You look like you want some pets! Look at those beautiful eyes! And that fur! You’re so perfect!” Kodak, of course, was very pleased with all of these compliments.
We exchanged some pleasantries, and as we walked away (Kodak with some newly found pep in his step) this lady said “Have the most amazing day!” with so much cheer in her voice, I was reeling for the rest of the walk. How could my initial snap judgment be so wrong? How many of these soul-healing interactions am I missing out on every day? It’s easy to think in terms of worst-case scenarios, so this was a happy reminder that sometimes, life hits you with a best-case scenario.
Connection is everything
Yesterday I walked by someone who set their phone up on a ledge to record an outfit-of-the-day video. They walked away from their phone a bit, and then turned around and started skipping back towards it, cheering and laughing and seemingly having a wonderful time.
I felt a little bit awkward, so I didn’t react or say anything or do anything at all. I just pretended not to notice and kept on walking.
This non-interaction kept gnawing at me all day. Why am I so hesitant to connect with strangers in real life? We all crave connection. Why is it easy to leave a comment on social media, but hard to make a comment in real life? I could have easily thrown out a compliment, made this person’s day, and left us both smiling and in a better mood because of it. This was an eye-opener for me, and helped me realize that I’m often walking around looking for ways to reject any type of connection, rather than being open to it.
Sometimes strangers are strange, but sometimes they’re strangely lovely. So go chit-chat with a stranger! Why not? Have a novel experience. Make a funny memory. Collect a weird story.
Or don’t, it’s up to you. But I’m gonna make a conscious effort to be more available to all these strangers that I keep bumping into.
