"To exist is to stand out, away from the background...You aren't thinking or really existing unless you're willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgement of your existence" ( Herbert, Frank. Children of Dune. 226-27). Have you ever wanted to stand out as someone more than the Average Joe or the Plain Jane? Have you wanted to be noticed as something more than the unnoticeable background? I have. Everyday, I look in the mirror and pray for something more than a part in the background.
It wasn't until thinking about what constitutes the background, than I came to realize that the background is seen from perspective and is the focus of the viewer. For example, as you look at the hillside or the mountain, the background is sky or the colors on the mountain. However, when your focus shifts to the trees that give color to the mountain, the trees become the focus and the massive mountain becomes the background. Who would have thought that the imposing mountain would become the background?
So, what is the background we are seeking to stand apart from to be noticed? We are all completely different, but amazing in our own ways, so how do you stand out or out-shine all the amazing and beautiful people and things that surround us? And by standing out, does that truly give you the ability to claim that you exist simply because you stand out? wouldn't the true test of existence be to not stand out alone, but to help others stand out and by doing so, stand out together? I think testing yourself and questioning things is important, but in standing out, who are we truly trying to stand out from and whose focus are we seeking to gain? God's? Our family's? The hot guy or girl down the street?
I want to be noticed but at what expense? I am risking my own sanity or my ego in thinking about the importance of the beauty in everything and everyone and seeking to see beyond myself and help others to stand out. My ego keeps pulling me back and screaming for its own five or more minutes of fame, but I continually keep rebutting with, "why?"
Perhaps, for some people, they need to stand out from the background. They have the glamour, beauty, and color to stand out and be noticed. However, for the Average Joes and the Plain Janes, the way we stand out is giving color, space, shape, and life to the background. Our way of existing is not standing apart from the background but adding to it. Maybe, by not standing out, we stand out in our own ways. We become the beauty of the background and bring the others the background from which to stand out. We have purpose. We exist. And we enliven and brighten a world with diversity, difference, and beauty. We stand out within the background in our own unique ways.
It wasn't until thinking about what constitutes the background, than I came to realize that the background is seen from perspective and is the focus of the viewer. For example, as you look at the hillside or the mountain, the background is sky or the colors on the mountain. However, when your focus shifts to the trees that give color to the mountain, the trees become the focus and the massive mountain becomes the background. Who would have thought that the imposing mountain would become the background?
So, what is the background we are seeking to stand apart from to be noticed? We are all completely different, but amazing in our own ways, so how do you stand out or out-shine all the amazing and beautiful people and things that surround us? And by standing out, does that truly give you the ability to claim that you exist simply because you stand out? wouldn't the true test of existence be to not stand out alone, but to help others stand out and by doing so, stand out together? I think testing yourself and questioning things is important, but in standing out, who are we truly trying to stand out from and whose focus are we seeking to gain? God's? Our family's? The hot guy or girl down the street?
I want to be noticed but at what expense? I am risking my own sanity or my ego in thinking about the importance of the beauty in everything and everyone and seeking to see beyond myself and help others to stand out. My ego keeps pulling me back and screaming for its own five or more minutes of fame, but I continually keep rebutting with, "why?"
Perhaps, for some people, they need to stand out from the background. They have the glamour, beauty, and color to stand out and be noticed. However, for the Average Joes and the Plain Janes, the way we stand out is giving color, space, shape, and life to the background. Our way of existing is not standing apart from the background but adding to it. Maybe, by not standing out, we stand out in our own ways. We become the beauty of the background and bring the others the background from which to stand out. We have purpose. We exist. And we enliven and brighten a world with diversity, difference, and beauty. We stand out within the background in our own unique ways.
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