Every single person in this world experienced today differently.
As you read this article, someone else in this world is shopping with their mom, giving birth to their firstborn, putting makeup on for a first date, grieving a lost loved one, dancing in the living room with their siblings, screaming the lyrics to a breakup song while going through it themselves, gathering around the dinner table where they plan to talk about their day which may turn into fighting about their day, or simply relaxing with a cup of coffee before bed.
You passed by a dozen people today; some you may know, some you have once known, some you have never known before, and will never get to know.
But every single person you have made eye contact with, opened the door for, or just briefly passed by, is living their own life. Even when you think everyone is on the same path by choosing the same college, being the same age, and studying the same major, each individual carries their own stories. Just imagine walking through a big city, where there are even more stories, dreams, aspirations, goals, experiences, and lives wandering on their own.
And that is sonder.
According to Google, sonder is the realization that every random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
This thought is a feeling, a weird feeling.
If you ever really let that sink into your mind, you start to become more aware of others. You start to become more interested in the world around you and how other people live. You start to see beauty in difference. You start to become curious. You start to have empathy.
I think a lot of these things are missing in our world today, especially empathy. I see a connection between sonder and empathy. Maybe, they just need to have a deeper realization of the complex lives that consume each person they share the earth with.
By obtaining sonder, you understand the depth of life. You will pass by so many people in your lifetime that you will simply never see again. They are out doing their own thing while you do yours. When you look at that person, you have no idea what they are going through.
They can be the one that dances in the living room with their siblings, or they can be the one grieving. So be kind, have empathy, and stay curious because each story is far different from yours, and the most rewarding thing is learning about other people.