Downcast Eyes

Leanna Bornkamp, "E. Houston Store Front"

“With downcast eyes, there’s more to living than being alive…”–Stephen Christian, Anberlin

More often than not, I find myself looking at what people leave behind in the city—graffiti, posters, litter, signs. But it’s another thing entirely to truly look at the faces around us.

Most people make eye contact fleetingly in this city. Too long of a glance is awkward–women cross their arms, men look inquisitively—but why is it this way? Why is it that eye contact is so taboo? I was with a friend just yesterday who curiously asked me why I made eye contact with the man across the street, gauging if it was safe to cross. In my small hometown, if you don’t make eye contact with people on the street, it’s considered offensive—yet here, going about an average day involves a total disregard for the countless strangers in our lives.

I feel, like many, that a face can tells stories, that eyes often are the key to the soul. How many opportunities to connect with others, no matter how transiently, do I miss in my walk from the dorm to class? I must pass thousands of people in that half-hour—thousands of stories rendered meaningless through my indifference. If we are all meant to learn from each other, why is it so hard for us to even make eye contact?

Sadly, I know that tomorrow, as I walk to my first class, nothing will change: I will not go out of my way, no matter the potential benefit, to learn what I can from the people around me. Because it’s always Point A to Point B—it’s always the destination, not the journey, a concept so dissonant to the philosophical thoughts we hungrily consume.

But I know for sure, though, that tomorrow I will not react to the faces of New York City furtively—each glance I will end with a smile.

I wonder if others will appreciate that the way that I would.