Three Things: The Passing Glance Edition

I believe it’s about time for another imaginary word from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows:

xeno
n. the smallest measurable unit of human connection, typically exchanged between passing strangers–a flirtatious glance, a sympathetic nod, a shared laugh about some odd coincidence–moments that are fleeting and random but still contain powerful emotional nutrients that can alleviate the symptoms of feeling alone.

I think everyone has experienced at least one moment of xeno at some point in their lives: the little wave of thanks a pedestrian gives when a car has stopped to let them cross the street, that fleeting moment of shared eye-rolling when the bellowing subway hawker goes off the rails, the jolt of electricity when one meet the eyes of an attractive stranger in a crowd. Let’s write about it, yes?

Gustave Caillebotte, Le Pont de l’Europe, 1876. Oil on canvas. Musée du Petit Palais, Geneva.

Edgar Bundy, The Passing Glance, 1892. Oil on canvas.

Robert Doisneau, Sunday Morning in Arcueil, 1945. Photograph.