🩻 TREE 781: Bigger on the inside
🩻 TREE 781: Bigger on the inside
I was at a funeral yesterday with a bunch of people I don’t usually hang out with and I caught several glimpses of fascinating depth in people who I barely knew by name. It reminded me of a thing Neil Gaiman wrote:
‘Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody – no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds... Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.’
— Neil Gaiman
First, let me clarify that the people I was with weren’t dull and boring on the outside. I just didn’t know them.
Second, remember this about the people you struggle to connect with, the people you find difficult, the people you tend to stereotype:
‘Inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds... Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.’
How huge is this beat?!
Grow slowly
Jeff
I’ve been dating again and it has grown me in so many ways. But what you wrote struck me. When I meet my date, I am ready to meet and learn another human story. I give him my ear and sometimes it goes really long and bitter, their story. I remain observant and integrate with a nod and smile that speaks acceptance. It’s what I do to understand another entirely unique creation. Everyone has a story.💙
Ah! So well said Jeff, Denelle, and Neil! Two of my favorite genres are autobiographies and biographies. I’m also addicted to the PBS shows like Finding Your Roots and Antiques Road Show because of people’s fascinating background stories.