How unique are you?
I don't feel unique, do you?
“All the world’s a stage. And all men and women merely players. They have their exists and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.” - William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Yesterday, we started a conversation about the public self. If you didn’t get a chance to listen to and read that edition, then go do that first.
Ok, so today I want to continue that discussion by diving a little deeper into the public self with the following questions:
In what ways are you unique? What qualities distinguish you from your friends, your enemies, the masses? Do you think other people consider you unusual? Odd? Average? A character? An individual? Hostile? Do you agree with them?
I found answering the question, “In what ways are you unique?” very challenging because I didn’t feel unique. I felt like everything about me was just degrees of sameness. kind of like how Japhy Ryder describes the suburbs in Jack Kerouac’s novel, The Dharma Bums:
...you'll see if you take a walk some night on a suburban street and pass house after house on both sides of the street each with the lamplight of the living room, shining golden, and inside the little blue square of the television, each living family riveting its attention probably on one show; nobody talking; silence in the yards; dogs barking at you because you pass on human feet instead of wheels. You'll see what I mean, when it begins to appear like everybody in the world is soon going to be thinking the same way…
(Add to this the "black mirrors" we carry in a pockets and the computer screens we hunch over during the day, and maybe you get why everything feels the same to me.)
I also got sidetracked by making the mistake of interchanging “unique” with “different.” And while they share some commonality, they have distinct meanings and connotations.
Different:
is used to describe something that is not the same as another thing or is distinct from it in some way. It implies a comparison between two or more things, highlighting the variations or contrasts between them. Differences can be found in various aspects, such as appearance, behavior, beliefs, or opinions. The emphasis is on the dissimilarity or divergence from a reference point or norm.
Unique:
refers to something that is one-of-a-kind, unparalleled, or singular. It implies that there is nothing else exactly like it. When applied to individuals, it highlights the distinct combination of qualities, characteristics, and experiences that set a person apart from others. Uniqueness often carries a positive connotation, as it emphasizes the special or exceptional nature of the subject.
To be different is to compare and contrast things, while unique emphasises the one-of-a-kind nature of something.
Once I got past this, I explored what it meant to be a unique human being.
I was surprised at first that I couldn’t perceive myself as being remarkably unique from anybody else. Where I ended up was connecting with the feeling of uniqueness rather than being distracted by the contributing factors that lend uniqueness to the individual.
So what do you think? In what ways are you unique? Do you consider yourself unique?
You probably heard cows making a ruckus in the background while I was recording on the move. This gang also made a lot of noise:
I’ll leave you with this scene from The Matrix. And if you’ve spent any time in The Notes, you’ll no doubt know that The Matrix is one of my all-time favourite movies. I’m forever quoting from it.
You believe that you are special…
Peace and love,
Clay
P.S.
Here’s a playlist for your weekend listening from Radio Soulcruzer. Enjoy!