Storm

Each day I have to take the train from and to my home village, which takes 1,5 hours a day. Some days I study or read a book during this time. Other days I listen to music, while trying to take a nap. Today I am writing this blog. There are many more activities I can name, but sometimes I choose to do something different. Then I just look.

Looking is something that people do every day, yet it is something so underrated. I try to find things that other people won’t notice if they don’t pay attention. I recently discovered that a couple of squirrels are living in the trees nearby the train station of my home town. Each day that I choose to look, I take my eye to those trees. Sometimes the squirrels are running over the branches like little ninjas. Other times these ninja-squirrels have other things to do and are not there. When they are jumping around, however, I immediately start smiling. It feels like my own little secret: nobody sees those squirrels, because everyone is doing their own thing.

That gives me the opportunity to take a good look at the people as well. Looking at people is an incredible experience. I can see that they are beautiful. It is interesting to observe what every individual is doing. Actions might tell more about a person than anything else. The way they walk, the way they carry their bags, the way they act if their train is late (of if they are late)… Each person is unique. I could spend hours just sitting on a bench and looking at them.

When I see all these people, I realise that all these wicked problems which are occurring are even wickeder than I had imaged. Humans are dealing with their own lives, their own ambitions, their own sorrows. I take a look at all of them and I immediately think: they are destroying each other, because they don’t see each other. That thought makes me feel sad.

Some people do look, however. These are the moments that give me hope. Recently I saw a girl on the train. She secretively held a notebook close to her chest. I sat behind her, so I could see what she was up to. The girl was drawing the two strangers in front of her. My heart skipped a beat. She was looking! And there are small positive moments as well. Moments when eyes connect, for example. Once I sat in the train and someone was walking next to it. I was just observing him and suddenly our eyes locked. The person smiled to me and walked on. 

These kind of moments should happen more often. Looking will help us see each other. It will help us understand what we are doing to each other. It will help us realise where our train is heading to: a future which holds nothing but uncertainty for human kind. Then we can start doing something.