Scrolling through my Instagram search page is hope for the future, an opportunity to step outside of my isolation, or at least outside the house.

May 18, 2020

I’m in Dakar, Senegal. I haven’t left the house since Feb. 27. The airport isn’t expected to reopen until May 31. Not that I’ll know where to go once it does, and if I’ll have to remain inside for two weeks once I get there.

Yes, thanks to technology, I can reach out to friends and family around the world, keeping them apprised of my goings-on, and they can let me know of theirs. But, oddly, what I seem to be missing the most is the possibility found in connecting with strangers.

I find myself spending copious amounts of time on my Instagram search page. I scroll and scroll, taking in snapshots of lives unknown to me. Much like being at a party or event of days past, where you see people you don’t know but would like to meet, my search page brings out the curiosity often found in the unknown. Perhaps you find a stranger attractive, like their energy, enamored by a gesture or impressed by dancing prowess.

Perhaps it’s the male ballet dancer in Brazil or the rugby player in Serbia or a singer in New York City I’ve never heard of. There is a hint of hope in what it may lead to, even if, like in person, nothing may come of it.

I suppose I’ve taken strangers for granted, forever sheltered and depending on the familiar and the need for a proper introduction. But now I see them as hope for the future, the desire for the new, to travel, an opportunity to step outside of my isolation, or at least outside the house.

During this time with its scourge of unknowns, I’m delighted to find comfort with these strangers and the imagination they inspire, even if our only connection may be a “like.”

Brian Keith Jackson is a novelist and essayist. You can find him on Instagram @briankeithjackson.

Doodles by Rebecca Lieberman. Rebecca is graphics editor at The Times and a multidisciplinary designer.