Half Yawn, Half Laughter

I've heard a lot of things and the ones I remember from the lot are more trivial than non-trivial.

That said, I don't know if there's a defined criteria on why certain pieces of inputs are remembered while others are easily forgotten. Maybe there's also a bit of randomness depending on the state of mind when the input was taken in.

Sometimes, what I concentrate on intently to retain gets forgotten easily when the concentration phase has ended and rarely does it crop back into my consciousness again.

Many of us have this tangible experience that after sitting for exams, there's a huge weight that has been lifted off our heads which was accumulated prior via cramming information.

In this particular case, what I heard and remembered is about yawning, specifically how contagious it is and it being a remnant of a past where people were more collectively oriented than individually focused. People used to (and still do) maintain social cohesion through mimicry. Doing what your neighbor did is the ultimate sign of belonging and safety.

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I noticed three young kids yawning almost simultaneously, the first one starts and before she finishes, the second kid picks it up and while the first is on her final exhale, the third kid raises his hand to cover his mouth.

As if compelled by an uncontrollable force, an adult from across the room also let out a yawn and that's where I couldn't hold it in any longer and started laughing sheepishly but just before that made a half yawn myself compelled by the same uncontrollable force mixing up with the irresistible need for laughter.

One of the kids did look at me in a confused manner either because she couldn't tell if I was yawning or laughing or both.

I personally was more so surprised by how quickly the whole thing cascaded through the group, similar to watching dominoes fall in slow motion.

It was such a simple, mundane moment that became another reminder of sorts of this beautifully absurd choreography we're all still performing.

In an age where people carry individual rectangles of light which somehow wires them to treat attention as a resource to be monetized, not having ownership over your own focus anymore is in my view a great way to be productive by every metric except the ones that actually matter when you're old and taking inventory of what you've authentically lived through and coming short on first-hand experiences bank, so to speak.

This yawning experience has reinforced my appreciation for being genuinely surprised by the ordinary, given how algorithmic my days can be on the digital space.

I probably will practice noticing more without needing to capture or share just to ensure I'm building that first-hand bank while there's still time for that.


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