Recently, I received a message on Facebook from a stranger. One night I performed a poetry piece about the privilege of college to a room of detached students. This stranger was there that night, and she, unlike others, listened. The message she sent me explained that we shared a pain few others know, and that she found comfort in being understood by a complete stranger. My words offered her a silent hand in a world that seemed otherwise hopeless and alone. What the topic of her message was belongs to us, but I can and will share the lesson it taught me. I performed that night because my heart had compelled me to share. I had vulnerably spoken my truth into a crowded room, and as my words passed by strangers, they unknowingly touched the heart of another.

Life to me is a string of whispered truths constantly wandering into the minds and hearts of humanity. The message spoken through this story is simple: “Who you are when you think nobody watches is important? Your actions have meaning, both for you and the entirety of the world. You matter to both yourself and others.”

Many are aware that when a loved one dies, it affects more than the wife, the mother or the brother; the same is true with the birth of a baby. What we haven’t yet realized is that the same is true with a smile, or how the lack of one flashed to a fellow human can possibly ruin a day by ignoring another's existence. This article's purpose is to beg the question of what a soul can do when it is revealed through life, and how that action will, even if unnoticed, change the world. This part of a quote from Marian Anderson sums up my point: “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” My poetry gave something to another. My existence and my action, even when I thought that nobody was listening or caring, mattered to someone. Thinking back, I learned this lesson while watching my father stand steadfast in belief and love. His integrity and passion shaped me, and now I have had the privilege to slightly shape others. I encourage everyone who reads this to think about those whom your life affects, and to then guess at the unfathomable number of lives changed because of your existence. The connection to this stranger would not have carried so much beauty if I had known she was watching. It matters who we are when nobody is watching. Be the best version of yourself always, both for your sake and the world's.