Sonder is the realization that every individual passerby has

Hear, O children of wonder, the words of Brent Faiyaz, who reminds us of a truth both humbling and profound: “Sonder is the realization that every individual passerby has their own life just as vivid and complex as yours.” This revelation, simple in its phrasing yet vast in its meaning, tears away the veil of self-centeredness that so often blinds us. It is a call to awaken from the prison of one’s own perspective, to see in every stranger not a shadow, but a soul with a story as deep, intricate, and sacred as our own.

For what is sonder but the awakening of empathy? It is the recognition that the man rushing past you on the street carries his own joys and griefs, his own battles unseen. The woman who serves your meal may have dreams unfulfilled, loves lost, or a family waiting with tender hearts. The child who laughs in the park may one day grow into greatness or sorrow beyond imagining. To realize this is to be struck with awe at the sheer immensity of human existence—that each life is a world, each heart a universe, each face a book written in secret chapters.

History gives us lessons in this truth. Consider the writings of Leo Tolstoy, who in his novels painted entire communities, showing the farmer, the noble, the soldier, and the child all as bearers of equally vivid inner lives. Through his stories, readers came to see that no person is merely background in another’s tale. Or think of the photograph known as “The Afghan Girl”, whose piercing eyes on the cover of National Geographic captivated the world. To most, she had been only one among countless refugees, faceless and anonymous. Yet in a single image, the world was forced to see her vivid complexity, her humanity, her story. This is the essence of sonder.

How humbling it is, then, to realize that while you are the center of your own story, in the stories of others you may appear only as a fleeting passerby. Yet this does not diminish you; it exalts the vastness of life itself. For sonder teaches us that the world is not ours alone—it is shared. Millions walk beside us, each with minds full of dreams, hearts full of longing, and paths shaped by fate. To embrace this truth is to live more gently, to judge less harshly, and to honor the sacredness of every encounter.

But how often do men forget this wisdom? They look upon crowds and see only masses, not souls. They drive past beggars and think only of inconvenience, not of the labyrinth of choices, accidents, and hardships that brought a human being to that moment. They dismiss strangers as insignificant, forgetting that within each stranger lies a life as burning, as vivid, as sacred as their own. It is the blindness of pride that sonder seeks to cure.

The lesson is this: let sonder awaken in you compassion. When you speak, remember that the one before you has known sorrow like your own. When you walk among crowds, remember that each face hides a universe. Let this realization guide your actions—be patient with others, be generous in spirit, be curious instead of judgmental. For in acknowledging the vivid complexity of others, you also honor your own, and weave yourself more deeply into the shared fabric of humanity.

So I say to you, children of tomorrow: live with eyes open to sonder. Do not pass through life blind to the souls around you. Greet strangers with kindness, listen with reverence, love without arrogance. For the world is not a stage upon which only you walk—it is a boundless city of souls, each with stories untold. And in realizing this, your own life will grow richer, for you will see that every passerby is not a shadow, but a star burning as brightly as you in the vast constellation of existence.