A car crash taught me this: People are all we’ve got
Nobody CaresI’m very comfortable flirting with cynicism. I’m not usually surprised when I’m let down, and I prepare for the worst because I’m terrified of seeming foolish.
My emotional armour is very real. I’ve built mine up over time and I tell myself that I’m strengthening it every time I get hurt or disappointed. Plus, the more those things happen, the easier it is to assume that people are arguably the worst, that they will sell you out or abandon you before doing anything else, and that to be an emotional island is the only thing that will ensure your survival while navigating the treacherous path of being alive.This, of course, is as lonely as it is untrue.
After all, in moments of hardship or grief or despair or disaster, I’ve still always reached out to those closest to me because they’ve always reached back. But to say that out loud has felt far too risky; if I actually admitted that maybe people could actually be kind and generous and supportive, I would jinx everything and condemn myself to learning that I was wrong.
Even more shockingly, they weren’t the last. From the tow-truck driver who dropped me off at my parents’ place to the restaurant server the next morning who had the kitchen make me strawberry/banana pancakes, to the incredible people who started reaching out after I posted a few shots of the crash on Instagram story, I started to notice that people genuinely cared. Even if there was nothing I could do to reciprocate their concerns and kindness. Even if all I could say was thank you.
I’m finally ready to admit that among the trash is an abundance of kindness; there is an innate impulse for most of us to reach out and ensure that anyone who is hurting or vulnerable or even a little quieter than normal aren’t alone. As Kristin Scott Thomas’s character says in, “People are all we’ve got.” To my own surprise, I agree. I can’t navigate the reality of being alive all by myself. I can’t even navigate a car crash completely alone. And I don’t think I’d want to.
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