Meditations on Trust

As a requirement for generalized reciprocity
     The mutual exchanges that bind us

We give away trust every day
     Prereflectively
     Tacitly
     Contractually

To strangers
     Institutions
     Coworkers
     Drivers and passengers
     Children and partners 

As a necessity for human interrelations 
We hope, in an unspoken shared belief

To examine the paradox of trust and self-opacity with intention
We can only know others in as much as they reveal to us
And we can only know ourselves when ...

I was watching a movie and realized I’d never be an Uber driver—I wouldn’t want anyone sitting behind or beside me. That thought got me reflecting on trust from a philosophical perspective … and voilà, a poem was born! Yay! 🤗

Recently, I learned that my obsession with safety is a form of OCD. Perhaps that’s part of why I believe we can never truly know anyone, even those closest to us. That thought doesn’t scare me and I don’t feel guarded because of it. IDK. Things just are the way they are and I am learning to accept that.

Photo by Joel Holland on Unsplash

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