This was the view out my hotel bathroom window on Wednesday night. Yes, bathroom. [Note to self: close blinds.]
Chicago at night...
There is something so deliciously magical about windows. They let you observe, they invite you to wonder, to dream, to imagine.
Looking out this window, I wondered: where are the people walking to? Who are there meeting? Where did they just come from? What are they experiencing, right now in this very moment? And as I watched them cross the street, navigating between the cars and pulling their jackets tighter, I felt close to them. To these total strangers who are walking through a city I don’t live in.
Because their lives are just like my life. Someone out there is excited to get where they’re going, someone else is worried about that thing they said to their friend, someone else is wondering where the heck their life is going and how it will all play out. In any given moment, we are just like any other person out there.
And from my temporary little perch in the hotel, looking down on these strangers in a beautiful city, I feel connected and part of something bigger than just myself. I know, for that one moment, we are all together in this meandering life. This is the gift of travel, of getting outside our deeply carved routines at home, to see we are all in fact together in this.