Locked down, a lot of things just disappear from our lives. The unmasked face of a stranger, chance encounters, spontaneity, curiosity, adventure. Hard lockdown further removes and blocks us from other bodies, spontaneity, serendipity, the glint in the eye, the fleeting encounters that help animate life.
I didn’t realise these were gone until I experienced it again – While I was on my bike riding along a quiet street, I saw a man holding a sign that said “Fresh Flowers Buy Here” while a woman was tending to an outdoor stall that was filled with beautiful looking flowers. That man of course was wearing a mask (I wasn’t as I was cycling). As he saw me approaching towards where he was standing, I could tell he was smiling widely as his eyes were beaming radiantly. I smiled back. Our eyes locked and we both nodded as if giving some sort of acknowledgement.
That split seconds of chance encounter with a total stranger strangely added an extra layer to my experiences for the day. This little things, often overlooked added special flavours to my days, which we were very much devoid of during Melbourne’s 262 days of lockdown.
I’m ecstatic that we could all experience this again 🙏🏼😊
