Five of us, strangers.
This picture, one of the few I took on a trip in 2018, was taken on a flight from Frankfurt, close to Strasbourg I believe. I was reminded somehow of this moment as I was biking today. (Yes, I have a memory like a phoenix for anyone who knows me). The day of this picture I had been on a small plane with about 5 others. I allowed myself to feel the sun on my face in that early October, my head leaning against the window. Trying not to think about my full day meeting at the WHO the following day. I remember the middle aged gentleman in suit and tie, with a briefcase on his lap, chatting with someone he cared about, constantly trying to glance over to the window he was clearly too far from. A woman, serious, but extremely well put together, a deep crimson swing coat that flattered her undone long bob, trying to mystify her enthralled glances. A young couple, very much in love with each other and with life behind me, sharing laughs and photographs of the view. And finally an older woman sitting by the window a few aisles ahead, with a sunken spirit until we started seeing the mountains, and stiffened her neck to capture the views. The five of us, strangers.
It was s short flight to my destination. I was able to draw out of each second, the most I could. Something so banal, but equally a host of opportunities for adventure, “an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity”. I smiled or said hello, and conveyed by farewells. I thought about the unqiue Gift of each person and all the people in their lives. How they got to be part of mine in a small way. The space they got to occupy needn’t matter. The mere fact that. I knew nothing about their accomplishments, or their successes or woes.
But we shared humanity, the human condition. We shared our ability to be awe-filled at the sight of mountains, or other awe-inspiring beauty.
We are not merely what we do to earn our bread. We are more. We are our relations, we are our scars, our triumphs, our fears but also our hopes. The latter ones, predominantly. Above all, we belong to one another.