sonder

sometimes when i walk through the city, i start looking at the people walking by or driving their cars and start thinking "damn, every single one of these people have a life".

i know that it sounds obvious, but it's not just that they people have lifes, but the fact that every single person have an unique, rich and complex life, just like i have. there are lots of differents worlds passing close to me that i'm never gonna be aware off.

i start wandering "how this person's routine is? what are their life goals? how many friends they have? do they have a partner? a pet?"

i always though of it as really weird feeling of mine, but i recently not only discovered that a lot of people feel the same way, but that this feeling has a name: Sonder.

nowdawys, it's really common (atleast online) for people to think of themselves as "the main characters" and everyone around them as "npcs". sonder is the exact opposite of that.

this current mindset that you are uniquely special and everyone around you is a lifeless robot is making people be awful towards other people and also less emphatetic. and that's why i think everybody should experience sonder, being aware that other people have a life and a personality and feelings just like you have would problably make you have more consideration for them.

-carol