The blog will pick a word of the week, to share & explore the selected word. Here’s an expression for the word – Sonder.
“Somewhere, someone is living a day that will change their entire life” – Plato. Sonder is a profound realisation that every stranger we meet has a life just as vivid, complex & meaningful as our own. Every person has their own dreams, joy, grief, memories, fears, secrets & stories. Everyone we meet is living a life as extraordinary as the one we believe is uniquely ours.
Sonder is more than a word. It is a new way of seeing the world. Sonder reminds us that every stranger carries an entire universe within them. The world is much bigger than our own experiences. Every life is extraordinary, even when it looks ordinary. While we are thinking about our life, millions of other lives are unfolding around us.
We naturally experience the world through our own perspectives. Sonder shares that our perspective is only one among billions. “You will never know how many lives you briefly touched. You will never understand the full weight of a stranger’s silence, the reason behind someone’s smile or the memories hidden behind familiar faces. Live your life as though it matters, because it does. But, remember that everyone else’s life matters just as much. You are one universe among billions, so is everyone else. We cannot know everyone’s story, but we can acknowledge that there is one” – Buddha.
Sonder inspires us to be empathetic & kind. There is something so beautiful & surreal about Sonder. Somewhere, a child is experiencing a childhood they will reminisce in adulthood. Somewhere, a person is achieving a dream they once thought impossible. And, all of this is happening while we simply go about our day.
We are both insignificant in the vastness of the universe & immeasurably significant in the small universes we create. Every individual finds meaning through their own experiences, aspirations & choices. Everyone experiences the world through their own unique consciousness. Every human life deserves dignity, love, compassion & understanding. Perhaps, the most beautiful thing about being human is knowing that we will never fully know one another, yet we can still choose compassion. Millions of stories, one shared world.
