awaré : an intense emotion felt in response to beauty. – Nicole Krauss

Being a Stranger

A reflective assignment…

A stranger has many faces. One can be the stranger or encounter one. The stranger is enticing. As a stranger one can be anyone they want. They can create an entirely new identity. There is freedom in not having the past tie the present down. A stranger can be whoever you want them to be. They can be menacing or inviting.

As a stranger, your identity is temporary. Unless you are stubborn to adapt, the identity changes to friend or acquaintance with time and patience. The fear of being a stranger is restrictive, while the fear of strangers produces caution.

Being a stranger is inevitable in any new place, circumstance and well, time. Again, the time being a stranger is short so it must be embraced. The unknown cannot produce risks and rewards without exploration.

There is no element of comfort in the identity of a stranger, only curiosity and ambition.

You cannot choose which face to wear as a stranger; however, you can choose to surround yourself with opportunities to become one.

If not, you wear the mask of denial. You deny any knowledge and existence other than your own and therefore cannot know anything else.

The life of a stranger is wrought with uncertainty and awkwardness but is redeemed with discovery and deeper vision.