So many people feel alone and isolated in today’s Western society, where cavernous, echoing homes; drive-through meals; and tiny, emoticon-filled cell phone screens dominate.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Tiny house builder Dee Williams suggests that if we take the chance to reach out to the people and places around us — to interact in person, face-to-face, in ways that let us look into each others’ eyes, feel the sun on our skin, and exchange a smile, touch or hug — we might all feel a stronger sense of belonging in this world. Williams writes in her memoir The Big Tiny:
If more people understood how nice it is to have a sense of home that extends past our locked doors, past our neighbours’ padlocks, to the local food co-op and library, the sidewalks busted up by old trees — if we all hold home with longer arms — we’d live in a very different place. . . .
We wouldn’t feel so alone, no matter the size of our houses, no matter whether we had good health or [not]. We would begin to see the each moment presents an opportunity to relax, to notice that the wind has shifted and a storm is coming, or that our friend’s toddler has decided to wear dinner instead of eating it. We would see that each minute counts for something timeless and, if we want, we can all find our way inside these big, tiny moments.
Let your soul speak
Thought of the moment, courtesy of French philosopher Simone Weil:
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