The Treasure Chest

Share: Tiny Uniqueness

This first statement is going to sound so cheesy, but here goes:

You are unique. 

Yeah, you've probably hear it before, I know. But it's really mostly true.

You see, I've been watching people. Yes, kind of like a creepy stalker. I don't know why, but as I walked to P.E. I saw people rushing by in an attempt to avoid being marked tardy. I was watching one guy run, and another guy run behind him, when I suddenly thought of how differently they ran. I also watched people as we ran two greens. It was quite amusing, really.

One guy, basically my archenemy/random moment friend for life by now, runs all stretched out and flat to the ground, like a cat, effortlessly loping past everybody else. Another person, not in my P.E. class but that I've observed running before, runs upright, flapping his arms like some frantic ostrich. A girl runs with her arms close to her body, her feet clumping. Some sing while they run, some talk, some just walk. One little guy jogs with an uneven gait, eyes darting around carefully before he cuts an entire corner. 

After P.E., I carefully observed people in Japanese class. The thing I noticed about people most was their hair. People play with their hair during class. Like, a lot. 

This girl has hair that always falls in her face, so she pushed it back by sliding her hand under her hair and flicking her wrist, sending it flying back. Someone else does it by tossing her head. One girl is absentmindedly combing her hair with her fingers the entire class. A guy with long, shaggy hair flips it all the time to get it out of his eyes. It's his trademark move, pretty noticeable. Another dude with a fluffy little ducktail at the front of his head keeps running his fingers through it, styling it even more upright. I even noticed myself. For whatever reason, I keep gathering my hair in a ponytail and pulling it up like a loose bun, but then just letting it fall. I do that a lot. 

Even the way people stand is different. not just slouching or straight, either. One person stands with shoulders hunched, feet planted wide, looking like he's about to kill you. One of my friends often shifts from foot to foot while she's talking. Some people look like they're trying to collapse in on themselves. Others are like soldiers, or dancers, or weeble wobble toys. Just how lightly their feet rest on the ground, whether or not the feet can even stay in one spot on the ground, the shifting center of balance, tells you so much about a person.

Not to mention the way they eat, talk, smile, move their hands during conversation, answer questions, even how they look when they first turn as you call their name.

It's really eye-opening, to observe the world. Try it someday. If you can do it without being creepy then automatic eight points. But you have to learn from it, too. See stuff that no one else does.

I realized, vastly shockingly, that people are just so different. And it's nice to think of why. Somehow, the way they've grown up or their genes or whatever, each person develops little trademark ways. Little subconscious habits that they may not even know about, defining a large of part of them. Each person adopts their own special moves and creates their identity, without knowing it. It's so interesting, really. What's the story behind that girl's hunched shoulders? Why does that person flap his hands as he runs? Why does that girl always scratch the back of one ankle with the other foot? It's so interesting, the little tiny itty bitty thing that these people do. 

Very impressive, too. Imagine it -- without knowing it, you are making something specific related to you, in other people's minds.

It's just... I don't know. I found it really awesome in this creepy way.

Yup, that's it. Just wanted to share.

You should try watching people, too. It works better when you're being silent or quieter, so you notice more.