The Mysterious Within
What lies within me is a mystery to you. Equally so, what lies within you is a mystery to me. It makes no sense to me why you choose to do and say the things that you do. Neither of these things is a tragedy. It is diversity. It is privacy. It is intricacy.
And within the individual identity placed on each of us lies a destiny equally as distinct.
Many of us squelch our uniqueness in fear, or loathing. We stiff-arm our secret longings while running for what we feel is a touchdown; for what we are told is the touchdown of life. Many of us never want to get married, or have a big important job. Many of us don't want to go into law, or teaching. We are told we should, because it is what is reasonable. We are told we should because it's what the last generation did. We are told we should because only a certain, wretched kind of people don't. And we suffered under a squelched self.
The most horrifying side-effect of self-squelching is being haunted by all that you should be, all that you aren't, all that you'll never be. Because our truest self, our truest identity, never dies. It's only forced shallowly below the surface. Someday it will pop up again and you'll be confronted with how little like yourself you have become. Even now as you read this, if you are a self-squelcher, you feel that pull...of that thing...that thing you squelched: art, writing, music, wrestling, basketball, darts, self-employment. Whatever it is, it has never let you sleep.
Here's to 2010. The year you listened to your truest self and danced the dance choreographed just for you.
And within the individual identity placed on each of us lies a destiny equally as distinct.
Many of us squelch our uniqueness in fear, or loathing. We stiff-arm our secret longings while running for what we feel is a touchdown; for what we are told is the touchdown of life. Many of us never want to get married, or have a big important job. Many of us don't want to go into law, or teaching. We are told we should, because it is what is reasonable. We are told we should because it's what the last generation did. We are told we should because only a certain, wretched kind of people don't. And we suffered under a squelched self.
The most horrifying side-effect of self-squelching is being haunted by all that you should be, all that you aren't, all that you'll never be. Because our truest self, our truest identity, never dies. It's only forced shallowly below the surface. Someday it will pop up again and you'll be confronted with how little like yourself you have become. Even now as you read this, if you are a self-squelcher, you feel that pull...of that thing...that thing you squelched: art, writing, music, wrestling, basketball, darts, self-employment. Whatever it is, it has never let you sleep.
Here's to 2010. The year you listened to your truest self and danced the dance choreographed just for you.
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