The Stoics had a word, sympatheia, for the deep connection running through all things. Marcus Aurelius pictured people as parts of one body, made to work together, not against each other. When you remember this, the stranger who annoyed you becomes a fellow part of the same whole, just as tired and trying as you. It softens the edges. You're not a lonely island fighting everyone else for scraps; you're woven into something bigger, and so is the person across from you. This doesn't mean letting people walk over you. It means meeting them with a little more patience, because their struggle and yours are made of the same stuff.

Inspired by the old idea of sympatheia. Written by Ugo Charles.