The Day I Realized Nobody Was Really There | by Veloarte | Sep, 2025
A Glimpse on the Train
Yesterday, on my way home by train, I witnessed a moment that stayed with me. It was late afternoon, the wagon filled with people returning from school and work. I stood by the door, music in my ears, eyes drifting between the passing scenery and the rows of seats.
At the next stop, an elderly man boarded. He walked slowly, gripping the pole with both hands for balance. I wondered if someone might rise to offer him a seat — yet not a single person looked up. Every face was lit not by the sun outside the window, but by the glow of a screen.
It struck me, no one was really in the train at all. They were elsewhere, lost in the digital world, while the man clung tightly to the only free pole.
Lost Between Past and Future
The pull of digital consumption grows stronger every day. But distraction is not limited to phones, computers, or devices — it lives in our minds.
How much of our time is truly spent living the moment we are in? And how much is wasted replaying the past or rehearsing a future that may never arrive?
“The past is history, tomorrow a mystery, today is a gift.”
This simple truth grows more urgent as time passes. The present slips through our fingers like running water, unstoppable and untouchable. But if we close our hands — if we pay attention — we can feel its weight and its flow.
The Photograph of Now
The present is like a photograph. It can only be captured in this exact instant.
Every instant is a photograph you will never capture again.
Wait too long, and the light will change, the angle will shift, the scene will never be the same. To miss the moment is to miss its gift forever. That is why awareness matters — to look, to listen, to notice. Otherwise, the right moment drifts past us, dissolving quietly into the past.
The Only Space We Have
The present moment is the only true space where life unfolds. What we do with it depends entirely on us.
But one truth remains: if our eyes are closed and our minds clouded — by yesterday’s regrets or tomorrow’s worries — we will miss the very opportunities life offers. The gift is here, now. All we have to do is unwrap it.
