"Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way down they are different from everyone else." -DFW
Today's culture is all about diversity and individuality. We are encouraged to stand up for what we believe in and required to attend seminars on the negative effects of bullying on a person's unique identity. But are we really different? Statistically, surely we have run out of combinations that could create a truly new identity. And it is our nature to band together and form connections. How would that be possible if we were each different beings?
During the course of this fall semester, I have met numerous strangers and proceeded to immediately strike up conversations with them. Initially it is just the basics but those facts quickly run out and we're left scrambling for commonalities in which to continue our conversation. In my haste to connect, I found myself making bizarre links to people's lives and my own. Things that they probably didn't care about and I wasn't even sure why I was sharing kept coming out of my mouth. I had to mentally force myself to calm down, shut up, and listen. Each new person was exactly that, new. I needed to open my ears and find out why.
Today's culture is all about diversity and individuality. We are encouraged to stand up for what we believe in and required to attend seminars on the negative effects of bullying on a person's unique identity. But are we really different? Statistically, surely we have run out of combinations that could create a truly new identity. And it is our nature to band together and form connections. How would that be possible if we were each different beings?
During the course of this fall semester, I have met numerous strangers and proceeded to immediately strike up conversations with them. Initially it is just the basics but those facts quickly run out and we're left scrambling for commonalities in which to continue our conversation. In my haste to connect, I found myself making bizarre links to people's lives and my own. Things that they probably didn't care about and I wasn't even sure why I was sharing kept coming out of my mouth. I had to mentally force myself to calm down, shut up, and listen. Each new person was exactly that, new. I needed to open my ears and find out why.
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