"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." -Oscar Wilde

Does it ever freak you out thinking about how many people exist, have existed, and will exist in this world? The billions and billions of people that you will never meet… The thousands that have lived in the same city with you your entire life who you stroll past at the grocery store… the amount of people that you have spent a few minutes next to at a stop light… Isn’t it just mind boggling that SO many people live in this world? And there you are… existing… in your own little world… in your own little family… in your own little circle of friends. And there everyone else is… existing… in their world.

Something I’ve noticed lately is that most of us (and myself) are scared to open our world and let it merge with others. The big question is “why?” I’m not talking about sharing your life story with complete strangers… just sharing those small moments… when you say hello in passing, or a small conversation while waiting in line at the check-out, or letting someone in your lane during rush hour. It’s funny that we restrict ourselves to our own world… funny that we think our world is the most important…

Out of all those billions and billions of people that exist, have existed, and will exist, we, surprisingly, all have one thing in common… we all came into this world exactly the same way—conceived with sperm and egg, born in different cities, but all born to this place called Mother Earth. And that’s when our stories begin--every one completely different. We make choices, our parents make choices… we find ways to survive—successful or not…

And another thing I believe we have in common is at one point or another, we decide we want to love and be loved. We want to connect with others… we want to say, “Look into my eyes and let’s share our worlds just for a moment.” Out of all the differences that exist in the world, love seems to be a commonality.

It seems as we get older we lose that desire to love others... maybe because of broken hearts, past experiences, hurt feelings... we end up restricting ourselves to our own world... restricting ourselves from love.

Lately, I’ve wondered why I restrict myself... why I avoid looking at people in the eye. Is it fear? Fear of what? I have absolutely nothing to lose. I have only connections to gain, something to learn, stories to see, and billions of people to meet and love!

When I was in San Francisco we were waiting at a street corner for the light to change. A tall African-American man was playing some insanely awesome percussion on a make-shift drum set consisting of garbage cans and plastic barrels. I joined the crowd surrounding him. A small child was in front of the crowd obviously amazed by the music. The man invited the child to come play with him. He handed the child an extra pair of drum sticks and they pounded away--the child so very excited. I then looked into the man's eyes. He had the biggest smile illuminating his face. Right then I thought, "Look how happy he is. He might not have anything else but this drum set and the clothes on his back, but he knows how to be happy." He might not have everything figured out in his world, but he has found one thing that most of the world spends a lifetime looking for.

We all have our differences, struggles, passions, dreams… I just wonder why we sometimes think our stories are the only ones that matter.

I’ve decided that I’m not going to restrict myself from hearing other’s stories. I’m going to look at people in the eye and smile.

Can we all do something?
Can we share happiness?
The world needs it.

I've decided I'm done just existing. I'm going to LIVE!!
Who's with me?




Did you get Ingrid's new album yet?

This song is very fitting.