(July 1, 2017 at 6:07 pm)Alex K Wrote:(July 1, 2017 at 6:00 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: That was perhaps the best thing about my experiences in the military -- it taught me how to fold myself into a team while at the same time maintaining my individuality.
Interesting.
You know, I grew up in a village of 500 people, and there were 5 other kids my age. When I first came to a big city, in my case Frankfurt or so, but way worse in NYC much later, I got a sort of feeling of existential dread, and I still do sometimes, that I am one of millions of people who all claim, same as me, to have complex inner lives, cherished memories, feelings that they associate with things, ideas, ambitions, a way they see the world, personal stories just as important to them as mine are ro myself. I literally cannot process this fact, and I long to be unusual in some ways to compensate.
Having lived most of my life in cities, I can identify -- "you're one in a million, in a lonely crowd", a lyric I wrote twenty-five years ago -- but my own experience, I found that to be edifying. I was forced to be myself, or blend in; that decision was pulled up into the foreground.
It was only when I was in basic, with shaven skull and identical clothing, that I came to understand for myself what individuality really means. And Kit touches on it in his OP, so far as I see -- individuality is not about striving to match any outside metric, but rather presenting yourself to the world fearlessly with the understanding that while you might find like-minded souls, you should never chase them.
Only my own opinion, and worth every pfennig you've paid for it.
