to care or not to care

i had a strange feeling today. perhaps it was brought on by the daily headache and my accompanying fear. perhaps it was caused by a sudden lack of stress at the end of the term. perhaps it happened through mind control. who knows. but as i was walking down the halls against the onslaught of teenagers in between my classes, i did something i rarely notice i rarely do.

i took a look at people's faces.

for a minute or two, i didn't see their clothes or the things i thought i knew about them or the way they carried themselves. instead, i saw their expressions. the way their eyes looked. what was beautiful about their appearance. how they interacted with the other living, breathing, thinking, feeling intelligences around them.

and i was overwhelmed.

so i looked back down at their jeans, their hairstyles, who they were talking to, and the way they brushed past me as if they had somewhere more important to be than i did. because i was scared.

treating strangers like mannequins is a lot easier than seeing them as a being with a pulse, an awareness, and a soul. but i learned something from this short, minute-long experience. i thought that maybe the one thing wrong with this loud world we live in is that so many have that outlook on their lives that intertwine so intricately with the miracles we call people that surround them. maybe if we looked at each and every individual as someone with challenges, joys, and secrets -- in short, looked at lens-less reality -- the world would be less heartless.

so there you go, i've discovered the number one thing wrong with our tiny planet. a lack of empathy.

but as i stepped back into my egocentric, cowardly habit of putting on blinders, i couldn't help but wonder.
will it ever be fixed?