Uniqueness...a noble goal, I would not deter anyone from it in the least, but the way in which we attempt to attain it will determine whether we actually achieve it.
There is a cruel irony here. People say they wish to be 'better' than others, and so strive for their uniqueness. But that, in and of itself, will undermine our ability to achieve that uniqueness. Let me explain.
An apple is just that...an apple (brilliant, yes I know). There may be apples which are 'better' than others, in flavor or so forth, and so attain a form of uniqueness, rising from common appledom to accomplish something greater than the rest. But even in so doing, there is a type of sameness that must be admitted to even make the comparison. The apple can only be called 'better' because it is not really that different, or more precisely, the differences in which it is attaining 'betterness' are very small.
That is where the phrase, 'comparing apples with oranges', comes in. You can, in some regard, compare the two. But it is very difficult to say which is better. Saying that an apple is better than another apple implies no great intellectual difficulty. However, the statement that an apple is better than an orange immediately brings to mind a myriad of questions, with many more questions to come upon reflection on the statement. You see the difference? The word 'better' really implies a sort of sameness, which is the enemy of true uniqueness.
You cannot strive for both. Elitism is separate from uniqueness. So what is this uniqueness we so desperately desire?
To seek to do something different is foolishness. One could, if one wished, use a pogo-stick to hop down the amazon river while clothed in a tunic, using a dog dish as a hat, and burping your ABC's all along the way. I would venture it is safe to assume that has never actually been done before (nor possibly even thought of). However this action accomplishes nothing of any value,and is therefore only foolishness. So apparently we want to accomplishe worthwhile AND unique actions.
But here we must think deeper. Is the uniqueness that we seek an action, or a state of being? Do we wish to perform an act that is unique, having that moment come and go, knowing that was the only truly important moment of our lives? Or do we wish to be something unique, to exude the uniqueness for which we all yearn. I believe hunger for the latter drives people, in their despair of becoming truly unique, to settle for the former. We settle for unique ACTIONS when unique BEINGS is what we truly long for. But how is that accomplished?
How could a human accomplish this? How could we makes ourselves, out of the billions of us that have lived, truly unique, when we ourselves are not creative? Interesting, isn't it? All the things that we have ever called 'creative' have been combinations of things that have come before. New colors can be made, but they are simply combinations of old ones. New monsters can be constructed, but they are simply different arrangements and exaggerations of things found in nature. How can we, who cannot even make a new thing, cannot be truly creative, hope to ever accomplish the uniqueness for which we yearn. The situation seems hopeless.
And so it is, but for one way. All those things that we use to create what we mistakenly term as 'new' and 'innovative' do come from somewhere. What if we were could go straight to the source? What if we could 'tune into' the creative energies of that which is truly creative? We may then have a chance, however slim, of hoping for that which we dare not dream of.
God is the only true 'creator'. He writes people as a true author; not as the stereotypical authors that we read, but as a painter who has so many new ideas he could fill all the canvases ever made and still not come close to fulfilling his ability to create 'newness'. To paraphrase Leiws: How shall the infinite repeat Himself? The universe in all its vastness, and time with all it's turnings, is too limited in scope for Him to speak Himself once. He is the source of true uniqueness.
He alone can make a person different from everyone that Has come before, and everyone that is to come. Our hope must come from Him. And He has given us a way. We have been bent, marred, blurred, as a sculture in a thousand year rain. What we could have been and should have been is no longer in our power to be, but it is in His. But we must turn everything over to Him. Hold anything back and what we could be, were meant to be, through Him, suffers. We take a certain amount of possible true uniqueness off every time we turn from Him.
This feeling that we have, that wishes to hold us back. It is ourselves, as we are now. It is the fear of the unknown, of turning ourselves completely over to Him. If we do we know that we will never be the same. In a way, it is our fear of our own uniqueness that is really holding us back. What keeps us from what truly would make us unique is the fear of our own death, and die we will; but what we will become is what we should have been all along: ourselves- a unique soul that is so radically different from all others that to compare any two of them would be like comparing apples to oranges- illogical, impossible, inconceivable.
If we want uniqeness, love God with all our heart soul and mind, and we will never be the same, as we are now, or as anyone else. If we wish anonimity, to fade into the billions, then we must hang onto ourselves, and never let God change us. But with our uniqueness will be lost many other things, talents, enlightenment, joy, true friendship. It really is all or nothing, both what we must sacrifice, and what we will get in return.
Our choice.
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