Today, on my way out of camp, I passed by 2 personnel from the French Navy. As I passed them, I smiled at them and one of them returned the gesture. I don’t know why but it made me feel… good? Haha maybe it’s the gladness that comes when a stranger returns your positive gesture? It didn’t feel like any of the previous interactions I had with other foreign visitors. Despite it being a simple smile, it felt genuine.
It made me think of how wonderful it is that, a gesture as raw as a simple smile could ignore differences in language, culture and beliefs and invoke a sense of familiarity and comfort in 2 strangers (or at least in me). Fundamentally, above our careers, insecurities, above everything else, we’re defined by our common identity in humanity; and it’s in seemingly mundane humane gestures we recognise that we’re not that different after all.
Maybe it’ll do us good to keep this truth close to our hearts, before being so quick to mete out our judgements or pre-conceived notions toward the people around us. Or at least to show tolerance when faced with people you can never agree with? After all, when have we truly paused to appreciate our common humanity?
Here’s another Googled quote I found quite meaningful:
“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Sincerely,
A fellow human
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