The Double Edge of Uniqueness

(For more on what I wrote on uniqueness, click here)

Truth be told, without any intent of condescension, there are people who are more unique than others, whether they were born with it or acquired it throughout their lives. Some seek to be unique; to stand out from the crowd, and especially, be remembered either by their family, friends, or the world. Specifically in that portion of distinction seekers, a great fear lies within—the fear of being "like" everyone else. I don't know how many fear to be too similar, but for me, too similar is—yes—a worse penalty than death.

That is because being too similar to be remembered separately means that I haven't done enough. Hence why I do as much as I can to be good, and most importantly, to produce. The thought of being typical doesn't exclusively mean that you belong and are accepted—it also means it would be hard for the naked eye to remember you as someone who is more than their name, origin, and allegiance. And that, for someone with so much to say that a separate ideology is needed, is too hard a punishment to bear.

It seems, however, that uniqueness, while often a virtue, can come with a price—the price of having to explain yourself constantly, not only to "outsiders" but to people who know you well, simply because your uniqueness makes you a more complex person, and complexity requires extra efforts not everyone always have.

Logically, it is enough to be similar to be unique to an extent. After all, similarity is not identicality, and when you are not identical, even if similar, you are technically different. Thus, we are all different to an extent. Hence why I began the article with: "There are people who are more unique than others." Distinctness/Separation are the tools that make you different.

Regardless, not every uniqueness is objectively something positive; Objective by being welcomed by all (hence why I disagree with the proverb, "everything is meant for good" or "HaKol LeTova" in Hebrew). Some people, for example, are born with rare mutations that will severely limit their lifespan, some to the point of dying very shortly with little potential to do anything in their existence. It is unknown to me why being born with severe, lifespan-killing deformations is a good thing. Maybe very extreme theories will claim otherwise, but I suppose most if not all would at least agree that not everything, objectively, is good or at least acceptable.

With that out of the way, I wager we can agree that significant uniqueness, one that outweighs similarity, often comes with its own prices, the most dominant one being the bigger demand to be understood, when that demand is of course necessary to exist. Thus, unless one is a complete hermit in a desolate wilderness, being understood is more important than not imperative to live in a healthy way, most especially when you are, or aspiring to be, a public figure, such as a writer, and not a private person, below the public radar.

This is why a sad truth in individualism is that it can come with a price that can limit your life beyond individualism itself. Human beings are often complex, but some are so more than others, for good and for bad. Thus, one should make sure they are not too complex to understand when such complexities are unnecessary or possibly avoidable, in order to avoid further miscommunications with the External World.

The most plausible solution to that are terms, words that label a happening in a way that can make others understand one better. Hence the necessity of as much diagnosis as possible. I am myself on a brink of a possible discovery -- that I suffer from Exhaustion Syndrome; a product of chronic stress, caused by various factors.