Experiment

“Perhaps you should meet more people.”

Someone once said that to me.

It was probably simple kindness.

So I began using one of the modern apps.

Every so often, I meet someone I have never met before.

We talk for a while.

Then we part.

I did not begin because I expected something extraordinary.

I only wanted to introduce a small irregularity into the rhythm of my daily life.

An experiment.

Nothing more.

So far, nothing remarkable has happened.

That, too, feels meaningful.

I notice myself measuring the return against the cost.

Was it worth the time?

Was it worth the effort?

That way of thinking seems to reveal more about me than about the people I meet.

Perhaps this is not the form that suits me.

Perhaps there is another way for me to encounter people.

Even so, I would not have noticed that without trying.