I don’t know if there is a specific word for it, but I think I know what you mean.
I was driving in traffic on a major interstate recently, and glanced out the window. I was struck by how many cars there were.
I kinda came to an overwhelming realization that each of these cars contained people with lives and hopes and dreams. They had all had years of life and memories leading up to them being behind the wheel in the car next to me. Most would have years to live in the future. There where cumulative millenia of experiences I’d never bear witness to.
I was just a small part, a single glance in their day; a day where they in turn would see thousands more.
Like stepping one too many times off the top of a dark staircase, there was an odd sense of… vertigo? Or, if you’re walking in murky water, and it drops off into sudden depth. There’s a short flash of panic at the sudden moreness of it, and you shake yourself, readjust, and go on with your day.
Maybe the phrase “existential crises” might apply somehow?
Thank you! You’ve answered a question I never really knew how to ask. I hope you have a really nice day.
Edit: Also threw an upvote towards AFKBRBChocolate. Credit to whom credit is due.