To most of us the differences of people are what we see as making ourselves unique. Whether it be in physical features, or personality traits. We all see ourselves as our own individual person. In all reality many of us share much more similarities to each other then we’d like to believe especially on mental and emotional levels. Most people have unrealized mental similarities to others that we just don’t realize because we either haven’t meant enough people that share the same thoughts or experiences. That’s been one of the beautiful things about the internet generation and community. The ability to share in both thought, and stories to find connections to others that have followed similar paths or have similar beliefs. Some resist this type of connection because it disparages the belief that everyone is there own independent being. With gaining introspection into the thoughts of others though we begin to see that the thing we thought was exclusive to us, also shapes the personalities or thought processes the same in many others as well. We as people rarely leave the dialogue inside our own minds. In doing so however and taking the time to listen deeply or connect with others with similar minds we can quickly find many others share similar stories, feelings, and thoughts. Seeing through the eyes of others can be a powerful and positive way to expand your own mind. Creating new bonds and connections by allowing you to look inside the mind of someone who thinks similarly can help pick up on little things you may have missed along your train of thought as well. Something like Reddit has brought some sense of community together like this where someone can talk about a story from there past. Following this a thread is created of multiple people chiming in with there own personal tales of similar traumas, experiences, or situations that relate. Some may deeply fear this idea that they are not the main character in every story however. When you realize in the grand scheme of the planet you are one of eight billion things begin to feel much more mundane and less interesting. Realizing that your crazy life story you see yourself as having has also been had by a few million other people takes away from that feeling of individuality. To some I believe that individuality is one of the few things people cling to as a personality trait to try and seem more interesting. Without realizing that none of us are truly completely individual beings walking this earth. Your always gonna have multiple similarities to other humans somewhere whether physically mentally or spiritually we are all tied together in some way. In that same breath we do all have slight differences as well and that’s also what makes us interesting as a species. We are such a blended group that no one person is the same, but no one person is just completely unique from the rest. There is always some level of common relation and diversity within all of us. We think of ourselves as a top species on this planet because of our brain capability and ability to adapt. In reality dolphins have higher brain capabilities just lack the ability to navigate on land or have opposable thumbs. Almost all species have evolved through time to navigate the predator prey relationship of the food chain. Showing in fact as amazing as human behavior, and evolution is we are not even solely individual to that growth. All species have grown considerably throughout time as shown by many scientific discoveries. Once people take the time to realize that we have as many similarities as we do differences it can rapidly open your mind to many things. A shared sense of community or feeling of being understood better. The feeling of fulfillment from not being completely isolated by a thought once we realize others have went through something similar or have experienced a the same time of traumas. The downside or reversal of this is the existence of trauma bonding. Once someone realizes you and them share a similar trauma or traumatic experience it can bind you together both emotionally mentally in a way that can be extremely unhealthy if not managed well by both sides. If both parties use this as a way to navigate and grow from the trauma it can be very therapeutic. However it can also be used as a way to exacerbate the trauma,and bring negative feelings out if both parties use it as an excuse to avoid growth. In the end we all want to feel like we’re some sort of special being in this world. Some sort of enlightened one out of eight billion. In reality though we all look the same in the pitch black dark. No matter your race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or background. The absence of light will still show the same thing just a pitch blackness with a silhouette of person standing there.