The people want to talk.

Uber journeys seem to be the motivation behind a lot of my writing.

I caught an Uber back home with my family this evening and sat in the front with the driver. It seemed like the first time I've felt comfortable striking up conversation with a stranger since I was a child, and had the forthright attitude of youth.

And the more I spoke, the more I wanted to go on and on. Naturally I repress this feeling because I assume people don’t like a woman that rambles; I assume everyone wants peace and silence, no burden of the upkeep of conversation. Especially not so late in the evening… But I don’t think the desire to talk is abnormal, which is why most people just do it. The fact I was able to naturally come up with, and ask, so many questions was a testament to how my anxiety has been slowly dissipating over the last few months.

I wasn’t met with confirmation of my fears; being judged by a total stranger for my interest in what they do, or made to feel I was prying. I experienced a lot of human interaction and connection in one day, having also seen a close friend for the first time since I got sick, and meeting my Dad’s work colleagues. And you could easily laugh at how dramatic I sound, making a song and dance about all the strangers I spoke to today, but I’ve become accustomed to shielding myself from genuine exchanges. I spend so much of my life waiting for work emails on a screen. I tape auditions on my phone and edit them on my computer and text my agent to check it and ping it to somebody across the globe all on a device. I can see my GP results online. I can watch a show. I can sit here in the dark on a Saturday night and write something in the glow of my laptop screen. Whatever good comes of the things I do within the four walls of my room on a device; each minute spent practicing it like a ritual, is a minute lost experiencing real human interaction.

Speaking to somebody I don’t know is how all relationships begin. Be it platonic, professional, romantic… It’s the crux of everything. But it’s become secondary - or even last resort. If there’s one exercise I want to remain, at the cost of everything else, it’s conversation. I’d take it over anything, even if it does scare me at times. I make no mark on anything by sitting at home, being a profile picture on somebody’s iPhone. I expand my odds and learn a new lesson whenever I express a thought or feeling aloud to somebody.

It’s safe to say nothing will probably come of my late night conversation with my Uber driver Austin. It’s unlikely it would’ve caused a domino effect on anything whether I had or hadn’t asked him about his day; his week; his job - but I happen to be living at the same time as 8.2 billion people. It would be so beautiful to meet as many of them as possible. To have some impact on their life in even a minute way.