If we could all take a moment to look into a stranger’s eyes, to communicate properly with each other, to smile, to shake hands, to say thank you, would the world be kinder than it feels now?

I feel extremely uncomfortable about the state of our small blue planet right now. There seems to be so much polarisation, so much isolationism, so much suspicion and mistrust. Shades of grey, nuances seem so far out of reach. There seems to be far too much encouragement to consider everything to be binary – yes/no, black/white, right/wrong/, in/out. This world, full of humans as it is, cannot be like that. We are emotional creatures, there are so many points in-between. Aren’t there?

I’m a relatively cynical woman, but in my daydreams and night-dreams, I sometimes ponder a better world than the one we have now. And in my waking moments, I try to make the infinitesimal space that I inhabit a little better for others – say thank you to the bus driver, smile at the overworked and underpaid shop assistant who still goes about her work in the best way possible, wish the postman a good day. It’s not much, but I hope it helps. We all want to be acknowledged, don’t we?

This week, the lovely Linda has asked to write stream of consciousness style on ‘if’. This week in particular, I am thinking about the similarities that bind us together, not the differences that push us apart.

Why not hop on over to Linda’s place, have a read, and take part yourself?