Let's Be Honest - What does it mean to be ourselves?

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Dear Individualism,

Let me start off by saying I really loved you and clung to you for a long time. You changed me into who I thought I was. I thought of you moment by moment, cherished each mention of my name on your lips, and compared my every belonging, measuring it up to my reflection in your mirror.

But, You are the robber of the average American's heart. You trick us all into believing we can achieve our self-worth by holding fast to you and your promise. You fool us into thinking we choose individual, specific, customizable looks.

We Americans listen to all of your words, and spend all our time trying to fit together the puzzle pieces of our hopes, our preferences, our individual tastes. We build our own personal rendition of the American Dream, of success, of being "different," of choice, or finding ourselves.

But when it comes down to it, Individualism, you are just a facade - a seemingly unique one - to cover the same wants, desires, and longings in all human hearts and souls. You make people believe they are so unique, different, a true individual, that they fail to see the commonality behind the shallow surface of uniqueness each person portrays.

Oh, Individualism, do you mock us and laugh when we think we've finally found it? When we just know we've got our unique and soul-altering purpose, do you laugh because you know we've really become an image, a reflection of ourselves, flat, a face-like mask covering our human likeness?

We are sewn into our personalities, stuck on them, coveting their success, their noticeability, and their popularity or lack of it. All of these selves hide who we truly are.

We are humans.
We desire and need love, grace, nourishment.
We thrive on community.

You know what you've tricked us into, don't you?

Cliques, bands, groups, clubs, gangs. We judge those we try so hard to be different from and stick to those we find commonality with, meanwhile ignoring the cry of the outsider. We want to be so different, but we want to be the same.

We're missing out on everyone else. We're missing out on who we were created to be.

Loosen your grip on us. Let us be.

Sincerely,
A Human with a Face