i don’t know why human connection and interaction makes me so emotional. well i do, but i don’t. it makes sense that it does, because each human is beautiful in their own way and with interacting with one and other, means sharing each other’s beauty. it goes both ways. most days when i take my walk in the forest preserve, i enjoy passing people and smiling and saying hello to each other. even if that’s all we get of each other for the rest of our lives, it was worth it and it was meaningful. sometimes, it’s more than hello and its a genuine and kind interaction. today, i passed a couple sitting with their dog on one of the benches sharing a moment of their own, and of course i said hello and awed at their beautiful dog. we shared a wonderful moment with each other, the four of us. it was something that made my day and i hope made theirs. it was simple, but it meant everything at the same time. i then passed another man sitting on the bench and we smiled at each other, genuine smiles that left me emotional. i started to cry as i looked up at the sky and watched two birds flying beside one another and the sun shining because it is a beautiful day. i dont know if it was that or the butterfly i saw earlier that i knew was my friend Bonnie in her angelic form visiting and saying hello. i dont know if it was the song that was blasting in my ears that moved me or a combination of all of it, but it is that human connection that truly drives me and gets me every damn time. that is what i love about life. humans. human connection. big or small, it really fills you up with emotion. or for me at least. but i am very sure that there are others that feel the same.

not to mention the human connections we have with the one’s closest to us. with our parents, our siblings, our families, our friends, our coworkers, our teachers, our classmates. all the relationships you can think of that you value because they are filled with love, understanding, humor, sincerity, warmth. because when something happens to you, who do you want to tell? there are people in our lives that are only present for a passing moment, and there are people who will be in your life for a longtime, if not forever. all these relationships are beautiful and important in their own ways. it is so interesting and heartwarming to look at all of the people in your life who you love and to see how they are similar and how they are different. to think about the experiences we share and the experiences we empathize. i love to love and that is why i love humans. because they are so easy to love. you are so easy to love. i am so easy to love. we are so easy to love.

i think it is really really easy in the trying times of today’s world, to get caught only focusing on the devastations around you, especially when it affects your people. but its okay to experience joy and love and other beautiful moments with yourself and others, without forgetting the other harder parts of life. or maybe you do want to forget about them, just for a moment. not because you don’t care, but because you want to focus on that single moment or emotion that you are feeling in the moment, so you can fully experience and enjoy it. its really easy to let yourself forget about enjoying things or to even feel as if you don’t deserve to enjoy things. trust me i know, i get it. so many people feel that way. isn’t that sad? its easy to feel that way because sometimes when we see others suffer, we may think ‘why do i get to feel joy, when there are others suffering’ even if you yourself suffer in your own ways. i’ve said this before and i’ll say it again and again, please give yourself grace. give yourself patience and understanding, just like you give to others. i promise you deserve it, and you will be and feel better for it. even if it is just for a little bit of time. i am not a philosopher, or a psychologist, or a doctor. i am not qualified in the ways that may seem to matter, but what i will say is that i am human. just like you and just like all the other 7 billion or so of us. so, i know what it is like to feel emotions, all of them and so powerfully. i know what it is like to endure things that you never ever wanted to or would wish on anyone else. i know what it is like to feel pain and sadness and anger and confusion and happiness and despair and grief and love and compassion and empathy and every other emotion you can think of. just like the person next to you. we all have that in common. so maybe that’s why human connection can be so emotional. because we all are constantly feeling a variety of emotions in a day. so to interact with another soul that also feels and understands that, even if all it is is a smile or a hello, that is a whole new emotion in itself. it is love and it is life.