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I am grateful for the kindness of strangers.

This is kind of a funny one to say out loud in the sense that it is the exact opposite of what I was taught as a child. When I started traveling abroad alone at the age of 21, I had my guard up. It was a rigid forcefield of energy that said “don’t even try to talk to me.” I would hustle down a street quickly, act like a local, blend in as much as I could and make sure no one bothered me. (I was that foreigner that always got asked for directions I blended in so well, which is an interesting contradiction to the vibe I was putting out.) I didn’t have a good read on what was safe and what was unsafe. Everything was just lumped into the “not safe” category, consciously and unconsciously. And you can bet if I was doing this while traveling, I was also doing it in my everyday life.

The thing is, inevitably when you travel alone, you will be faced with a situation where you have no choice but to rely on strangers, specifically the kindness of strangers, sometimes even ones who don’t speak the same language as you and you have to communicate through hand signals. I have encountered so many situations where this was necessary. In some instances, I think my life was even saved. When I look at it, I can see that this has been the case not just when I am traveling, but in my everyday life. The “random” people I meet in everyday life who I never see again, have often shown me kindness or a well placed word or comment that changes something for me, or is a synchronicity or a support for me. The more I notice those moments, the more they happen. The same has been the case with the kindness of strangers. The more I experienced it, the more I saw it in my life. I’ve had acts of kindness from a stranger morph into a deep friendship. I’ve had acts of kindness from a stranger bring me to a country I would never have considered visiting. I’ve had acts of kindness from a stranger teach me lessons about myself I would have never learned any other way.

My shell has softened or gotten more clear over time as I became more aware of what felt safe and unsafe to me. It got more clear as I became more familiar with myself, with the world, with travel and as I developed more discernment and trust in myself. I know how to protect myself in a healthier way and I know how to open myself in a healthier way. I honestly think experiencing the kindness of strangers has helped me to learn and hone this discernment, and for that I am grateful too.