Geht es auch anderen so, dass sie manchmal so empfinden?

It was a rainy Wednesday evening. Lena sat by the window of her small apartment in Berlin, a cup of hot coffee in her hand, the steam dissolving into tiny clouds in the cool air. Outside, the rain pattered down on the asphalt street, cars passed by, leaving wet trails illuminated by the streetlights. She stared at the street corner, where an old man stood with a slightly lopsided umbrella, waiting for the bus. Suddenly, a question popped into her head: Do other people feel this way too? Like being alone in a crowd, like the world around you keeps moving, but you yourself stand still, an unnoticed observer.
Lena was 28 years old, worked as a graphic designer in a small agency, and had a group of good friends. Every Friday evening, they would meet at a small bar around the corner, laugh, talk about work and love, drink wine, and eat French fries. From the outside, it seemed like she had everything one could need: a stable job, dear friends, a cozy home. But in moments like this, when the rain tapped against the window and the city slowly sank into darkness, she suddenly felt very alone.

She thought back to last week, when she was sitting with her friends at the bar. They were laughing at a joke Tom, her colleague, had told, but Lena was only half listening. Her mind was elsewhere: she thought about the letters she still had to write, the bill that was due next week, her mother, whom she hadn’t called in a month, because she was afraid to admit that she was sometimes tired of always pretending to be strong. When Sarah, her best friend, asked her: “Lena, are you okay? You look a little absent-minded,” she only replied with a smiling “Yes, everything’s fine,” and quickly changed the subject. She didn’t want to burden anyone, didn’t want to show that she was sometimes overwhelmed.

The coffee in her hand was slowly getting cold. Lena took a sip, which tasted bitter on her tongue. She looked outside again: the old man was gone, the bus had come and gone. The street was empty again, only the rain kept falling. Suddenly, she noticed a young woman on the other side of the street, sitting by her window, just like Lena. The woman held a cup of tea, stared into the distance as well, and in her face, Lena saw the same expression: a mix of melancholy and questioning. Maybe she was asking herself too: Do other people feel this way too?

Lena smiled softly. Maybe she wasn’t alone. Maybe everyone had these moments where they felt small and insecure, where they wondered if others had the same emotions. She picked up her phone, opened the chat app, and wrote to Sarah: “Hi, I’ve missed you a bit. Do you want to get a coffee tomorrow?” When the message was sent, she felt a little lighter. The rain was still tapping, but the quiet by the window was no longer so confining. Maybe that’s what life is all about: sometimes alone, but never completely without someone who feels the same.