It wasn't an easy year. Most of my struggles were internal. Most but not all of my discord self-actualized. Some external. A few events stand out. Some good. Some bad. Why should I complain? I feel like my life is infinitely better than some. Then again, how can I know that? I can't literally walk in someone else's shoes. I can't get in another person's head. I don't believe all the imagination in the world can't give you an iota of another person's reality because we lack that person's perspective, which colors every experience. And that perspective can work both ways.
For instance, according to a Netflix documentary I watched, a resident of Myanmar is happy if they go to bed with a full belly. If I'm being real, and I am, it takes a hell of a lot more than that to make me happy. There is no basis for comparison. No way to judge or measure happiness. But if I had to guess, I'd say the people on the streets of Myanmar are happier than I on any given day, provided that one simple need is met.
And although I believe each person has infinite potential, I've also seen that what we can grow accustomed to is surprising, and horrible. Our capacity for degradation, for depression and self-pity, for filth and cruelty also has infinite potential. Think Trail of Tears. Think Holocaust. More recently, think Las Vegas. Everything is relative, each perspective unique, and when something becomes normal, it just is.
I did come to realize one thing I found significant this year. That each and every person has a sugoi story to tell if we only will listen (I've been watching too many Japanese sitcoms, apologies.). But seriously, just listen. Give another person that attention, whether it's your significant other, your child, your coworker, or a complete stranger.
I ran across this pin a few days ago.
I would expand that to explain what most of us do, which is make it neither better nor worse. I realized that sometimes at work I don't even look clients in the eye when I help them. Most of the time, in fact. Which indicates that, as a whole, my interactions on any given day are largely meaningless. No more. After all, in some ways, we are all the same, aren't we? We all want to belong, to succeed, to love. We all struggle to find enlightenment and meaning in a cruel world. We've all experienced disappointment, failure, and loss. Finding a common thread with another person is not a difficult thing.
These days, I see much irony in being self-aware, in being the most advanced species on the planet. What I would give some days to be a dog, or a cat, or a bird (or a bunny named Hazel-rah). To not have to think about anything but survival.
I won't say good riddance to 2017, because all time is precious. All existence precious. But 2017, I won't remember you fondly either.
J. L. Dodd
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