Individuality and Individuals
As time moves and life flies by, the glamour and the rawness of humanity often gets lost in translation. Life blurs together. The space where it ended and you began, starts to die out, fade into monotony. And the thing that holds it up, keeps life alive, keeps us going, is our individuality. Sets of moments, of music, art, books and anything to form an experience become personal, sentimental. They become ours and they form the very fragments of our identity.
What seems to be trivial and minute, a song, a dance, a picture isn’t always just that. Not when those experiences become you. Not when you have those experiences.
When those parts of you get over-exposed, shared in a TikTok, become the latest trend, it feels personal. It is personal. Because even if in the deep crevices of your mind you may be aware of how these experiences aren’t just unique to you, it's easy to pretend they are.
I understand the world functions better when it is shared; but in a world where all the houses start to look the same, the streets seem never-ending, the sirens seem forever blaring, and the trees remain rooted in place, it's far too easy to get lost in the routine that life has become.
And even with that being said I remember the first time I heard “Hearing” by Sleeping at Last. I remember the first time I read “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.” And I know that they have hugged my body, curved into my spine. I know that they have become a part of me, that they have furthered me. And these new drops of identity are still new, still current. And that they were gifted to me by social media trends and that they have had tremendous impacts on my life.
So who would I be if I didn’t allow someone to have that same feeling? Who am I to assume that I am more deserving of soaking in more of life’s creations?
I know it all sounds so bizarre and so foolish but most human reactions are. Laced in selfishness and irrationality lies rawness. A truth that can’t be denied.
I don’t think my misguided annoyance will ever disappear. Especially as my favorite songs and books become front and center, become just a trend only to fade in a few months. But I can live with the knowledge that my music, pieces of my experience will become someone's “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.” And just as it was for me, it’ll be for someone else. ◆