I had the strangest experience last night on the tube on my way back home.
Perhaps I was feeling tired or still feeling the effects of an “indulgent” Sunday afternoon, but I suddenly became very aware of all the passengers on my carriage.
Every single one of them.
I could sense their breath, the heat off their body, their presence within that limited space.
It suddenly dawned on me that every day, I come close to people I will never see again.
Every day, on that tiny carriage, whether it’s only a 5 minute journey or an interminable one, I’ll be standing right next to another HUMAN BEING.
Not someone whose presence irritates me cause they are elbowing me right in my stomach as we’re all squeezed in onto this packed train.
Or whose breath lingers over my head (I’m only small, so I do get “breathed over” quite a lot!!!) wanting me to pass out.
Not even someone whose voice is so irritating they should be banned from talking publicly forever!
I’m talking about other human beings.
Like you and I.
No matter who we are, we all have one thing in common.
All of us.
We all just want to be Happy.
And in that wish, we all have the same Fears.
Fear that there won’t be enough life for us to live, enough joy to feel, enough love to keep us safe.
But mostly, fear that we will never be enough for a world that keeps on demanding our very soul.
And so there I stood, for what felt like an eternity, surrounded by all these strangers who suddenly didn’t feel so strange anymore.
Only less frightening and a little bit more human.
In that new awareness, my heart ached for all the times we forget that, before the “You, I and They”, we’re all just Human Beings.
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