If at first you don't succeed, try, try again

I wrote a post last night at a somewhat ridiculous hour, and looking back on it, I'm not really sure that I said what I meant to say. I'm not entirely certain that I'll get it out now, but at least I have a better chance, with both some sleep and my excellent procrastination skills on my side. My eloquence has been at an all-time low lately though, so if you'd try to read more for content than style, I'd be much obliged.

After a strange experience last night, I feel compelled to make the following assertion: I'm certain that the vast majority of people are beautiful inside. You are, much, if not all, of your family is, your neighbors even - but people hardly ever wear their hearts on their sleeves. To take the unrepresentative exterior and assume that it applies to the person within is an incredibly ridiculous assumption. While our brains are wired to help us recognize threats and such in facial expressions and attitudes of other people, some of this instinct has also been altered by society. Some of the nicest people I've ever met have been people society deems dangerous and irrational - like the scraggly wild-haired man who discussed brass quintet music with me in one of NYC's music stores, or the homeless woman at Porter Square who asked me to watch her things for a few minutes. If I knew these people better, I might not necessarily be best friends with them (although, who knows?) - but just because I don't know them at all doesn't mean I should be rude. Or pretend that they don't exist.

It's like that saying people are always quoting: 'Don't judge a book by its cover' - you can't possibly know anything at all about a person based on what they look like at this one moment of their lives except for what they look like at this exact moment. Yes, I suppose you can extrapolate and make assumptions, but really, what purpose does that serve? I can't help but feel like in our world, every wall we throw up between ourselves and the next person is another brick in the wall between ourselves and the world. Because really, what is the world? People. Animals, nature, yes, definitely, absolutely. But our entire world (where by world I suppose I mean society and structure and world on a day-to-day basis) is made of and by people just like you and me. People who could use a genuine smile from a stranger on the T after a long day. People who could use a hand, or a connection, a thank you, some small interaction to see that others do care. A moment of time to say 'yes, you are alive, and so am I. Isn't it wonderful?'

I'm not saying go out and be stupid. Don't wander dark alleys looking for strangers to smile at. But don't keep your head down and your hood up as you blunder through the crowds. Notice the people you're traveling through time with. Take a moment for the street musicians. Give someone you love a hug. Smile at a stranger. 9 times out of 10, they'll smile back. I know.