I was scrolling through Tik Tok when I was introduced to a new word--sonder. It was described as a “realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” Although sonder isn’t technically a real word, I felt like I had reunited with something. I had always randomly thought of the complexities of other people’s lives but could never explain the feeling with a single word.
After that, our club’s weekly #factfriday post came up on my Instagram feed, saying that in 2018, 60,651 children and youth in Canada came forward to file violence-related police reports. For a moment I had stared blankly at the words on the screen, trying to register what that meant. Of course, I knew that child abuse was prevalent, but it never hit me as to just how many people’s lives had abuse as their reality. And that their reality was harsh, painful, and traumatizing. It made me wary of the number of strangers that I saw who were potentially experiencing a vivid and complex life filled not with happiness, but violence and cruelty constantly inflicted upon them. From now on, I take the time to be more aware of each stranger that passes through my life. Not to closely inspect them for signs of abuse or prod my way into knowing their past, but to simply treat each person with respect and kindness, because everyone’s lives are more complex than what meets the eye. I hope you will get the chance to be struck with sonder one day too.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
September 2020
Categories |