Online, it can feel as though we are surrounded by hostility. Social media amplifies the loudest voices—the sharpest, the angriest, the most certain. It creates the impression of a world defined by conflict, where every interaction carries the potential for escalation.
But when I close my laptop and go outside, I’m reminded that most people are not like that. Most people are ordinary, occupied with what to make for dinner, an email they forgot to send, something they said three days ago that won’t quite leave their heads. They are moving through their lives in ways that are benign, sometimes more generous than we tend to assume.
But connection doesn’t happen on its own. If we don’t practice even the smallest acts of acknowledgment, they begin to disappear.
Have we become more fearful of one another? Or simply more practiced at looking past one another and avoiding eye contact?
I still take my walks. I am still, often, lost in thought, occasionally embarrassing myself with choreography only I can hear. But I try, when I surface, to look up. To notice who is passing. To say hello, even when it feels unnecessary, even when it feels slightly awkward.
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