Seeing the Forest and the Trees Shannon Maene

I laugh when people say that they wonder about the meaning of life. I ask them, what will you do with it once you find it? I then tell them, find a purpose behind your own life before seeking to explain all human existence.

My friend was astonished once when she saw my face grown grave after parting with an arrogant and narcissistic student. She was resentful of his haughty comments, in which we both put little value; why then should I look so pained? I told her it was not what he said, but what caused him to say it, the absolute isolation he must have felt that drove him to build a wall around himself for fear of further rejection. We could not disdain such an arrogant individual, for in actuality, he would feel more loneliness than we ever would.

My sister once said how intensely she wished she could fly. I said I too wished this, but asked her, if we could, would we still gaze at the birds with wonder? She said that was why she did not bother speaking to me anymore: I always answered with "something weird."

Something weird: perhaps I am too philosophical. Nevertheless, I tend to delve deep, and have discovered that it is not hard to find another side from which to view a situation, if I am willing to dig below the...