worth a thousand words

I absolutely love this drawing. It's by Adrian Tomine, and it's the cover of the Nov. 8, 2004 issue of The New Yorker. I've had it up on my wall ever since I first found it my senior year of high school, because it makes me feel better about absolutely everything.

Two subway cars pass each other, and a passenger from each looks up at the same time to see the other reading the same book. If the encounter had been just a little bit different, perhaps the two would have had a conversation. Or maybe they would have just pretended not to notice their commonalities, as humans often tend to do. Instead, they are separated with little chance of finding each other again, but they have one magnetic moment that may change how they think for the rest of the day or year.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or, at least, this one is.

This picture makes me feel better about everything because it reminds me that no matter how unique your experiences are, or how alone you feel... there is someone (possibly closer to you than you think) who is feeling the same way or thinking the same thing, or even understanding something about you that you might think no one else gets. And sometimes, because of the circumstances, you'll never know this, but regardless, that person exists.

I have had many moments lately (and throughout my life, too) that make me feel that I don't understand anyone, or that no one understands me. This happens frequently, especially when I'm un-grounded from the truths that I usually believe in so firmly. But always, usually in the most unexpected context, someone reminds me. Everything is only one thing, the secret of the universe is that it is all connected, the differences between us are only superficial.

Sometimes it is a phone call I receive exactly as I think of the person who is calling me. Sometimes it is a conversation I have with the person in line near me at the supermarket, or the line of a song that comes up in shuffle mode on iTunes. Sometimes, it is one of those "subway glances" that occur at the most inopportune time but still is an expression of some kind of innate perfection that exists in the universe.

I'm sure that everyone has these moments. I think a lot of them are ignored, unfortunately. I wish that everyone would take time to acknowledge them when they do happen, because they are a good reminder of all of these things. We're not alone. We're all one. Alone. Allone. All one.