Member-only story
Why We Need Strangers in Our Lives
To abstain from strangers is to abstain from growing.
There is a unique power to strangers.
They teach us in ways our friends can’t teach us.
The better we know someone, the harder it can be to learn something new. We already know their perks, their pitfalls, their shortcomings. and their shenanigans.
But when it comes to strangers something magical happens. A stranger has a clean slate.
They teach us how to behave in public.
They teach us how to be kind.
They teach us nothing is normal in this world.
They teach us not everything is about ourselves.
Strangers have so much to teach us. Yet many of us don’t interact with them by choice or circumstance.
To abstain from strangers is to abstain from learning and growing.
Strangers can restore hope in this world. We read the news only to be exposed to the suffering humans inflict on one another. But step away and witness the kindness of strangers.
We need strangers to push us in new ways. They force us to think and act differently.
