(A find from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows)I love airports. I’m actually fascinated by them. Every time I see people scurrying to their gates, or see the tired faces in the mass security lines, I can’t help but wonder where all these people are from, where they’re headed, what they’re doing, and who they’re meeting. It’s a place where people from all different countries, backgrounds, and ages converge—unlikely paths intertwining, only briefly—and then part ways, maybe forever.
The slumped man sleeping in a corner, the couple hugging before tearfully saying goodbye, the millennial running to catch their flight—iPhone and neck pillow in hand; Every one of them with a unique story, destination, and goal. And each time I’m at an airport, the word sonder comes to mind. Sonder, (though not actually recognized by official dictionaries) is the realization that strangers have a life as vivid and complex as your own. I’d always had this thought, especially when in airports or while looking out along a twinkling city skyline, but I didn’t have a word to describe it until recently. Coined by John Koenig and originaly published in the Dicitonary of Obscure Sorrows, the extended definition of the word is one of my absolute favorites. I couldn’t have said it better myself, so here is the word for word version: SONDER—Noun The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk. Isn’t it just perfect? I’ve read it 20 times over and it still doesn’t loose its charm. I guess the reason I love this word is because it puts the world into perspective. I get a glimpse of how vast and diverse our world is—how complex and beautiful our unique experiences are. How many of those people will we be able to meet in our lives? Or perhaps never meet? How many times will we enter the lives of others briefly? As a Good Samaritan on the street or a silent stranger in a crowd? And how many times will we actually become part of someone’s life story? As a supporting actor in their life’s show, or the best friend that only appears in act 1? And although this sheds light on our differences as individuals, it also reminds me that we are more similar than different. We’re all just people trying to make our way in the world, sometimes united briefly when with a destination at an airport.
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About MeThanks for visiting my blog! My name is Megan, I work in Marketing and I graduated as part of Minerva's class of 2021. Enjoy a collage of reflections, poetry, and late-night thoughts. Archives
October 2023
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