Exceptionalism

Let's go out on a limb here and say everyone likes to feel special.

I know I do, at the very least. This has been the case with nearly every person I've interacted with. It's in varying degrees from person to person. Some are greedier about it than others. It can be an aggressive search for attention or a simple desire to be loved and appreciated by those you love and appreciate. It's one of those really bizarre conundrums, too. Look at the population of our planet, with billions of people, and one could make the blasé comment that no one is special. How can they be, with the sheer numbers so overwhelming?

And yet. And yet every person you meet is different from the next. There can be large quantities of similarities shared, but age, location, experience... The life lived and the person it builds are always different. 

I believe it was Pixar's The Incredibles that had a bitter and jaded villain who once wanted to be a superhero remark that once everyone was made super, then nobody would be. It's a quote that comes to mind when thinking about people's criticisms of marginalized individuals seeking validation or aid. "Special snowflakes." They're sarcastically disregarded. In broader senses, people who don't want to make exceptions for those who struggle more or differently than they do all have their own unique reasons. Maybe they feel like their struggles can be equated - they made it out on top after roughing it, so why should someone else have it easier? Maybe they feel like those who ask are just being lazy or too sensitive - everyone's too sensitive nowadays, or so I keep being told. Maybe they just don't care - the capacity for empathy manifests in different degrees for everyone. 

I'm personally of the opinion that if I can help make someone's life easier than mine (and I have it pretty easy in the grand scheme of things), then I will do so. But this blog entry is less about that and more a part of my reflection on recent events in my life. The above is an inevitable side effect, yet worth noting all the same. 

I have been lucky in my friendships. The closest ones have been lasting and incredible. As with anyone, I've lost or fallen out of touch with friends, too. The efforts in maintaining multiple friendships lend themselves to parsing down those you keep close, in favor of dedicating more energy and time to those who have also dedicated energy and time to you. Not from a selfish stance, but people tend to best like the people who like them back. 

Despite all of the billions of unique human beings on this planet (and some that are just off-planet too) I have found some fantastic human beings who have let me into their lives and kept me as close as I've kept them. It is with them that I have zero doubts about my value. I never get the sense that I am a frustration or an undesired demand on their time and attention, which often happens with someone I don't know as thoroughly. These are exemplary individuals in the world, and against all odds, they have found me exceptional. It is in their friendships that I am the luckiest. 

Just wanted to take a moment to appreciate that.