I remember as a child , maybe five or six at the time, once travelling somewhere with my parents in the car. I was looking out the back window and saw this woman weeping uncontrollably beside the man who was driving. Her hair was brown and longish, with it teased at the top, the style of the sixties and must have been in her late twenties or early thirties. She was thrashing back and forth, covering her face and shaking with grief. I can still see that image so clearly. It shocked me. What did this mean? What horror had happened to make her behave in such a strange way? I had never witnessed anything so raw before. The poor woman must not have appreciated this little girl staring at her so boldly from the back window of the car in front of her. I remember sensing this, having a feeling of shock. Knowing that I was witnessing something too private. I turned away.
Many a time I`ve wondered about all the people in the cars we`ve passed. Each has a seperate life, a whole story......connected with many other stories......connected to many other lives. So many people. What joy are they feeling? What heartache are they bearing. What adventure are they on? What are their dreams? How do they love? Are they kind? Are they thoughtless? What do they believe? So many lives.........so many stories......
I wonder about these things.............
13 comments:
You were a very observant child! Something was wrong and you saw it...very perceptive for that age. I often wonder about houses. I've never lived in a new house, they have always been older and as a kid, they were stately in some cases. One had a very formal room for dancing. I've always wondered about the lives of the people who lived there before we did.
What an intriguing post - I must admit that I don't really wonder about people unless I'm at an airport, there I spend the waiting time watching other passengers wondering where they are going and why. I don't mean the obvious holidaymakers but the less obvious ones - the man with the briefcase and dark glasses for instance or the elegant woman travelling alone. Old houses make me wonder about the lives that were lived in them too. I wonder what happened to your weeping lady?
I'm wondering whether the previous comment will stay put, I left comments on two blogs yesterday neither of which are there today - they were polite and non-controversial so I'm wondering where they went!
Tea,
I wonder about others all the time.
Just yesterday we passed an old vacant decayed stone home. I wondered outloud (to DH) about the families that had lived in that old farmhouse.
I wonder what that says about us....always wondering about other people's lives?
I love thinking about other people, other areas, how different everyone is. It's amazing stuff.
I am kind of obsessed with this subject. Thought this post and the photos were a brilliant expression of these question marks and silent connections formed through collective curiosity ...
You showed great sensitivity as a young child.
This is very interesting as I, too, think about these things. Especially with regard to homes. Just a couple of weekends ago husband and I were out and I asked him to stop by the side of the road...I took a photo of an old farm home now boarded up and wondered aloud to him "I wonder what those walls would have to say".
So many wonderful questions!
Everyone has a story, and I sometimes wonder what that person is all about, by the look on their face.....some look happy and some look just darn mean....crabby...
Strange.. I think about this all the time, but until earlier this year, when I met someone with whom I'v elearnt to exchange ideas, thoughts and emotions to a fuller level than I've ever done with anyone else.. even those I should do so with..
I suppose the question is what do you do about it? observe from the outside or dive in and try to find out more about those lives? I like the latter..
I am a great people watcher, I like travelling by train, and I find the railway station is an ideal place to watch and wonder about people.
Talking about hair, as in one of your previous posts. I am a natural brunette, but spent my late teenage years going between my natural colour and henna colouring, later on moving to a lovely auburn shade, the last few years copper haired. Then disaster, my hair colouring never looked as bright, you are going really gray underneath that colour my hairdresser said. He advised me to have lots of highlights and a different colour that would cover the grey better, and now....I am something I never would have thought of a blonde, with caramel undertones. I love it.
I do so understand this post. I am the same way. I wonder about all the people in cars, behind closed doors, in shops, in restaurants, just about anywhere I go. I love driving through a neighborhood at night and being able to glimpse families inside (I'm not a peeping Tom!!) and wonder about their lives. And then I also wonder if people look at me and wonder!
you picked great photos to go with your post...
such a sensitive insight.
So many people....so much collective subconcious !
What would happen if they all felt the same thing in the same moment or they concentrated on one particular thought or feeling....at the same time ?
What could / would the effects be ?
I wonder.
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