An Ode To Not-Knowing

Waiting people fascinate me. I enjoy observing their hesitation, their delay, especially when they think they are unnoticed. They are pure, honest and vulnerable, whether it is in private spaces, waiting rooms, train platforms, trams, or in lines.

They disappear into timelessness, on the threshold of their thoughts or wandering in the spaces between their minds. They are at their best when they suddenly stop because they don't know something. It moves me when someone suddenly hesitates, stumbles or gets stuck in the middle of a sentence and blushes. Maybe they gaze at the ceiling with their eyes or are looking for an answer to a question. In these in-between moments, shame and excitement overlap, silence and openness, not-knowing and creativity, tragedy and humor. Here, honesty, curiosity, and humor have the chance to bloom. Here, language transforms into poetry, movement into dance. Here, there are no judgments, no lies, and no ego, but wonder, beauty, and joy; a safe haven for stories.

Hans Jeths, copyright© 2023