6.21.23 // People Strolling By

I love to watch people stroll by...
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My street isn't one of the main arteries in Bend, but the neighborhood I live in is very walkable and sits between a couple of parks and tasty places for food. Because of my side street spot, my road attracts early morning and late evening dog walkers, families meandering to the playground, crews of people on bicycles scooting to a brewery, and older folks just out for an afternoon jaunt in the sunshine.
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Whether from my front porch or my kitchen table, I have a front-row seat to the people passing by who are out living their life, seemingly unaware of my curiosity and appreciation for them.
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It's a beautiful feeling to appreciate a stranger for their shared experience of simply being a human. They are completely unknown to me and yet I can love them from afar even in my complete unknowingness of who they are, where they are going, or what their life looks like.
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I can love them and I can wonder about them.
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Wonder what their lives are like... What is making them happy? What is weighing on their soul? What brought them a smile today? What their favorite food is? What their most cherished childhood memory is?
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Questions I'll never know the answers to, and never need to know. They are the main characters in their own stories, and I am merely a bystander happy to fill a role of a friendly appreciative neighbor.
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And while I'm barely a side character in their story, my unknowingness of them is reflected in the fact that they unknowingly are having an impact on my story, my capacity for love, and my ever-growing curiosity.
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Mere moments shared with monumental impact. A connection created and shared without a word ever being spoken. The implicit beauty of simple strolls and observing others living their lives weaving the perfectly imperfect web of humanity.