Sonder
Clara’s Story
by
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The first feeling I ever had of sonder was when I was about six years old – which is odd because six-year-olds don’t have “feelings”. Well, they do, but basically only two of them: happiness and discontent. I, however, was “mature” for my age. My best friend then was named Andrew, and he was the boy I played trucks with in the sandpit during recess … Andrew’s shoulders were broad for a six-year-old, but he wasn’t very tall. I was taller than he was, which was odd because I was considered short for my age.
Andrew had a truck that he always played with. It had a blue body and green plough at the front. The back left wheel had broken off, so he had replaced it with a Lego wheel. Of course, with the Lego wheel, the truck wobbled as he pushed it on the asphalt, but Andrew didn’t care too much about that. What six-year-old would? I always saw Andrew as the boy who had the wobbly truck. Nothing else. After he lost his front tooth, I would sometimes refer to him as the boy who whistled through his teeth, but that was later on. I never saw Andrew as another person. I knew he was human; I never thought he had a life other than playing with me during recess. That was his role in my life, and at the age of six, all that mattered to me was my life.
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About the Book
When Clara was six, a feeling washed over her that she would never forget.
It was a moment of epiphany for the young girl, the moment when she realized that every person she passed on the street had their own life, with their own problems to deal with. They were so much more than two-dimensional characters of her imagination; they were people, real people, with real lives, real families, and real problems.
It wasn’t until she was much older that she learned this phenomena is known as sonder. The experience and the word would come to define her young life.
As she grew into an observant and compassionate young woman, she too dealt with love, loss, heartbreak, and sorrow. But in taking the time to look beyond the surface, she also learned that the world is not as lonely as it once seemed.
About the Author
Emily Neiman aspires to be a director and writer. The twenty-year-old is a film student who plans to blend her creative and intellectual interests professionally. Emily also hopes to one day understand the complexities of human emotion—or at least experience it. She currently resides in Ontario, Canada.