There are 8.491 million different faces you could see while sitting in a coffee shop looking out the window. I wonder how many faces you’d see twice, if any at all. Choosing to notice is one of the most important decisions I’ve ever made. Not everybody chooses to be aware, to look up, to contact— to be present. But there are places in the world that draw that out of you. I wonder how many things I miss even while my eyes scan the crowds of people that constantly brush past me on every sidewalk and intersection. I could have walked past the person that would impact me like nobody else could; I could have walked past someone that needed me. In this, I find the importance of understanding that we can not always understand. Maybe this is more important than seeking to comprehend. I seek to notice. Like carving a note into the back of my skull… one that says, “The only thing you need to know is that you cannot know everything.” In that, I find comfort; in that, I find humanity. Maybe people are also seeking to notice me.

Talia Bootz

5.5.2017