The disconnect

It's been said that September is always the most exciting month of school, for a number of obvious reasons. One reason I find interesting is that people are so welcoming to each other. Perhaps it's because a number of people are just starting out and are unsure of who else is in the same boat.

I think the two most interesting months to observe student interaction is September and February; Orientation week and Election week. I find that during these times people actually look you in the eyes and have big smiles; in September because they want a friend, and February because they want your vote. I was watching a documentary recently and near the end one of the interviewees is sharing his thought that people want to be connected to other people, and yet, if they are walking along the street and someone's eyes meets theirs they turn away. They want a connection, and yet pull away from that connection.

I'll admit, I used to look down on the floor a lot of the time when I was walking. Sometimes spotting the toonie or $5 ($20 if you're lucky) is a good excuse to justify looking down, but it's still only an excuse. This past week I was intentional about making as much eye contact with the people I pass by, and smiling (maybe smirking creepily?) just because I was curious with the reaction might be. It's startling to me that as a culture we are so consumed with __(whatever reason)__ that we neglect the people around us.

Tonight my friend Steph and I shared a bit about our summer experiences, and the theme that I grasped from it was the importance of community, and how much that matters. We all want to be a part of a community, I've quoted it before that no man is an island. What I like about Carleton is how much I see it as a community within a community, that we are all connected in some way and it doesn't matter where you're from. Ravens fly together. I made that last sentence up, but maybe it can be a slogan? I like that there will always be those people/faces we recognize, unfortunately for the most part that's all they will ever be: faces in a sea of people.

A quality I like about myself is my ability to observe my surroundings and simply be aware. If I walk into a room, I scope the room. I'm not the type to not notice someone as I walk by. I'm not the type to miss someone who is on a bus (so if you see me and I "didn't see you there", I apologize, I more likely didn't want to talk with you). A challenge for you/myself this week, and by this week I really mean Friday, is to simply acknowledge another human being's existence. Preferably a stranger. One nice thing I discovered for myself is rather than keeping a door open for the person behind you to pass is to hold it wide enough so they can pass through first. If you do this already, kudos to you as it shows chivalry is still kicking.