For the first time in a long time, I’ve been meeting new people every day. I just started college after going to school with nearly all the same people my whole life. Now, everywhere I look is a face I don’t recognize. I’m kind of in love with them all.

When I meet someone for the first time, I have the weirdest desire to know them deeper than I probably ever will. I’ll talk to someone for five minutes in class, and then I have hundreds of questions. What’s their relationship with their mother like? Do they have any scars? When was the last time they cried? I’m confronted with humanity from every angle. It’s overwhelming.

I love everyone. Is that weird? Okay, maybe I don’t love them. I just have the desire to. I see everyone and I think: Someone will fall in love with you one day, and I can see why. I have an odd urge to hug everyone. What if they haven’t been hugged in a long time?

I’ve always been almost foolishly optimistic. I believe in the greater good. I believe a big, loving, beating heart lives in everyone’s chest. Maybe when I’m older, the world will harden me and I won’t think this way. I guess I should try to enjoy it now.

It actually makes me sad sometimes—the fact that when I encounter someone it probably won’t go beyond a passing glance or small talk. I want to know them. I think the world would be a better place if we all got to know each other more. I can find a reason to love someone—anyone. There’s a reason people act the way they do, and I want to listen. I want to listen to everyone.

Maybe that’s why I love reading so much. I get to know someone (albeit fictional) so intimately in such a short period of time. I hate that most bonds have to be formed over a long period of time. You can’t become best friends with someone and truly know them intimately within an hour or two. It takes years of studying them.

In books, though, you’re presented with characters and taken through their thought process and their experiences. You get to know their backstory, and often the story itself is a formative experience for them. As the reader, you’re allowed into this journey with them.

I love getting to know people. I love people. Humans, just in general, are so interesting to me. I think about it all the time. I can’t believe actual human beings read this blog and take the time to comment and share. I don’t even know you! Yet you’re reading my words on a screen and it somehow resonates with you. It somehow means something to you. That’s incredible.

I don’t really know what this is. I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been busy, overwhelmed, living. I think I’m just writing a love letter to human beings at this point. Humans and the stories they share with one another. That’s the most important thing to me—sharing stories with everyone I can. Listening to the stories told back to me. Stories can save the world, I think. I’m feeling idealistic today. It’s the fall equinox, and I’m feeling happy to be alive. I hope you are too.

If you’re feeling alone, cling to stories. Cling to everyone around you. Write down your own stories, and read as many others as you can. I promise it’ll loosen some of the knots in your chest. I promise it’ll lift some of the weight on your shoulders. I don’t know who you are or where you are. I don’t think I need to know. It’s a wonderful morning and I’m telling you the beauty of our species and the beauty of our stories. Thank you for reading mine.

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as always, thank you for being here and thank you for reading. i appreciate every single one of you. if any of my words resonated with you today, feel free to share, comment, or subscribe to support my future work. see you soon.

until next time,

grace <3