A Stranger, a Friend

Because of who I am (gregarious, emotion-driven, etc.), I’m predisposed to become emotional when I watch other people doing something cool. And usually it’s emotional in a good way, thankfully. And sometimes it feels sort of cosmic, or like there’s this great big interconnectedness between complete strangers that I can only catch a glimpse of every now and then. Instead of making me feel small, given how many people there are in the world, it actually makes me feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be by virtue of the commonality I share with literally every person on the planet: we’re all human, and we’re all trying.

Yesterday I went to my first concert since last 2019. The screaming was fun, the singing was great, we didn’t get trampled in the pit like I thought we would. There was a lot of good happening! But I think what was most significant was early on in the band’s set when I thought about how incredible it is that there were a few thousand people in one place for the same reason. The cosmos opened, and for a moment I could sense how important each person was, and that sharing that space meant these people I’d never met didn’t really feel like strangers the way a huge crowd normally would. It wasn’t the talent on stage or what they were doing that really even made this all happen for me. It was just that we were all there, all trying to experience something, all showing up for something.

It happened to me earlier yesterday too as I met with a student who struggled on her first test. I was skeptical when she asked to meet, and I feel bad about having made such wildly off base assumptions on almost no information. We ended up having a really emotional conversation, and it’s because this student kept telling me about all of the signs the world has given her, despite the difficulties of getting into her competitive program, that she’s meant to be here. Her words rang true in my heart, and I was overcome with gratitude to be a witness to her journey. I was so wrong, because I wasn’t focusing on how much bigger this all is than just a quick consultation in my office. She's right where she needs to be. And so am I, seeing her do such incredible stuff.

Several weeks ago at work I felt a similar thing attending the White Coat Ceremony for one of our cohorts. Watching people do something they’ve always wanted to do and being in proximity is really cool. And while there are days at work that I don’t necessarily feel like this is exactly what I want forever, catching a glimpse of my ties to a bigger cause and a bigger network all of a sudden helps me see that the daily efforts compound to contribute to a whole that's of way greater significance.

Maybe this is all kind of woo woo, or maybe it’s what God has asked us to be paying attention to all along. Either way, it’s my favorite thing when it happens.

I lucked out with my coworkers.


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