House by the Railroad, 1925, by Edward Hopper.

For those of us who live in New York City and choose not to own cars, summer often finds us on a litany of trains—the impulse to escape the blasting furnace of the city leading us to cooling points north or east (for the most part). I happen to enjoy riding the rails and I’ve been taking advantage of the access to the country that trains afford me this summer, reveling in the lush greenness that seems so much more sumptuous after a steady diet of gray concrete.

I came across this quote by the famed painter Edward Hopper just before one of my trips out of town, and I thought it would be a great jumping off point for today’s Salon exploration: “…I’ve always been interested in approaching a big city in a train, and I can’t exactly describe the sensations, but they’re entirely human and perhaps have nothing to do with aesthetics.” Hopper is known for his expressive use of light in his painting—I challenge anyone to look at “House by the Railroad” and not feel pangs of loneliness! It is one of the unique perceptive attributes that make his paintings memorable.

Being human, each of us has our own thumbprint, both physically and figuratively. Have you noticed anything in particular about your own “entirely human” sensibilities that might stand out as "yours"? Do you feel that these traits color your relationships and shine through in your use of social media?