As my daughter winds down to sleep tonight, she said that she often thinks about when her mic was briefly turned on even though she was backstage, broadcasting her words to the entire audience of the musical.

I told her it is a sad and liberating truth of life that most people don’t think about others most of the time. If we are directly affecting each other or are present with each other, yes. But otherwise: we are ignored, unwatched, neglected, unknown — poignantly alone, pointedly free.