Small Worlds

Today, as I accompanied my daughter to an audition (which seems to be becoming a frequent occurrence--I accompanied her sister to one yesterday), I ran into three different people I knew--two kids and an adult. Now, it wouldn't surprise me at all if my daughter saw people she knew, or at least recognized. She goes to enough of these things that she must see the same "kids of a certain age" over and over again. My seeing people, however, reminded me of just how small a world it is, and how easy it is for the parts of our lives to overlap with each other. I don't know the people I saw from anything acting related--they are from completely other parts of our lives. Clearly we have more in common than I thought.
 
What today made me realize was that I must be a lot more engaged in the world than I thought. While it seems that I move through life, wrapped up only in my own work, and my own kids, it would be hard to know anyone if I really lived that way. Having that "small world" experience was a reminder that our world is only that small if we are active participants in it. If we are concerned only with ourselves, we would never notice anyone the first time, much less again somewhere else. It is when we engage that we get to enjoy that "small world" feeling.
 
And that "small world" feeling feels pretty good, especially in a big place like New York City.