The Common Thread We Don’t Discuss

I find it funny we almost always talk about the things we could never connect on and rarely share the only thing we really all have in common. Let me explain. 

Much of what humans love to show the world is their accomplishments and unique enjoyments in life. Sure, you might share a common link with a small group of others who have also accomplished what you have, but most don’t share those accomplishments or even the desire for those accomplishments with you. 

But, they do know the struggle. 

It could be the only thing men and women have in common from the coast of California to the mountains of Afghanistan and the shores of the Polynesian Islands. We’re all navigating the suffering associated with the human experience. 

I think this is why we often use a proxy. Music and art connect us. Is it a coincidence that they often convey deep, often difficult human emotions? I wonder what life would look like if our common default connection point was less a show of apparent happiness, but an honest expression of how we actually are instead.