Saturday, December 31, 2022

Year-End Musings




"You are unique. And you are surrounded by billions of other people, just as unique as you. Each of us is different, with some new angle on the world." 

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig


Ah, yes... I am unique. I live my life a certain way with certain rhythms—looking for wonder in  waterdrops and winter, in wassail and weary lines in the faces of men and women. My little cabin has its own flair and friendliness, its own warmth and whimsy. 

You are likely unique in other ways and interested in other things. Your room or home could tell me volumes about you without any words being spoken. 

We long to be our unique, intricate selves. Yet what is it that simultaneously pulls at us, making us long to be like others, to find kindreds? We may not want to be like the 'common person,' but even in our uniqueness, we are looking for 'our people,' the place we fit in.  

What are these at-odds desires that pull at us? The desire to be different, to walk our own path...and the desire to find someone like us?