I’m sitting in a little café at my guesthouse in northern Thailand, waiting for my pancakes, when I overhear a man, seemingly in his 70s, and a woman, seemingly in her 60s, chatting over scrambled eggs and Earl Grey tea.
I often get overwhelmed with the feeling of sonder (though I didn’t have a word for it until recently, either). When I start to imagine everyone’s brothers and account balances and magazine descriptions my head spins. Maybe its enough to revel in delight of other peoples stories and not empathize for their whole (imagined) life
Two things we have in common: I'm also very intrigued by the conversations of others. So intrigued, too intrigued, in that I get emotionally wrapped up in and often concerned for these strangers. I didn't think this was a problem until I went on a silent meditation retreat and found myself very engrossed in the lives of strangers that I literally had not met. So lately I'm working on "not manufacturing problems." But reveling in someone elses beauty and joyful stories, that I want to do more of.
And I JUST learned the word sonder. It must be in the water (of the internet)
Omg yes I’m totally getting WAY to emotionally wrapped up!! One time I promised a taxi driver from Dubai to find him a job in Germany because I was too invested in his life after 20 min of driving in his car lmao 😭I realized it’s a beautiful thing to care deeply for others but also I don‘t have to be everyone’s savior haha
“but the story reached me and therefore lives on” Really enjoyed this post!
thank you so much for reading!! <3
This was an absolute joy.
I often get overwhelmed with the feeling of sonder (though I didn’t have a word for it until recently, either). When I start to imagine everyone’s brothers and account balances and magazine descriptions my head spins. Maybe its enough to revel in delight of other peoples stories and not empathize for their whole (imagined) life
Two things we have in common: I'm also very intrigued by the conversations of others. So intrigued, too intrigued, in that I get emotionally wrapped up in and often concerned for these strangers. I didn't think this was a problem until I went on a silent meditation retreat and found myself very engrossed in the lives of strangers that I literally had not met. So lately I'm working on "not manufacturing problems." But reveling in someone elses beauty and joyful stories, that I want to do more of.
And I JUST learned the word sonder. It must be in the water (of the internet)
Omg yes I’m totally getting WAY to emotionally wrapped up!! One time I promised a taxi driver from Dubai to find him a job in Germany because I was too invested in his life after 20 min of driving in his car lmao 😭I realized it’s a beautiful thing to care deeply for others but also I don‘t have to be everyone’s savior haha
How lovely. Thank you for sharing the thoughts in your journal too. Some of them really resonated. Happy travels!
So happy to hear they resonated and thank you so much for reading!! <33