Do I know you?

Often, when I meet someone for the first time, they get a funny look in their eye, tilt their head slightly and then ask if we've met before. I'm used to it by now but I am sorry there are (at least) a few other people going through life being mistakenly taken for me. I wonder if they get stopped in the supermarket and asked similar questions by people I have had fleeting conversations with?

Or how about when someone says you remind them of someone else? Ouch. All those years spent cultivating your personality and style and belief system just to be compared to some random stranger who has probably been doing the same thing just a few streets over from where you live.

Uniqueness is an idea that many people pride themselves on. We like being set apart from the rest of the herd and we point out the differences between ourselves and others with ferocity. So, how do you think I felt a few years ago when 3 different people called me within a 5-minute window to tell me there was a baseball game on TV and a guy in the stands, sitting behind home plate, looked "exactly like me." I was indignant until I checked for myself and saw this handsome devil who could have been my twin (except that I loathe the Atlanta Braves).

Strike two for the ego.

Why do many of us crave this sense of individuality? Are we born like this? Did our life's story and experiences do this? Both or none of the above? I'm not saying that its good or bad; just that it seems to be. Some cultures express and emphasize this more than others, but we're Americans and this trait is in our bloodline...our DNA. We like to stand out.

Well... sometimes.

I see a lot of people everyday who don't want attention drawn to their circumstances. They try to blend and morph into the backdrop of society so others won't notice them. Maybe its fear or embarrassment. Maybe its the remembrance that they, too, once loved standing out. Perhaps there is no worse feeling than marginalization for someone who is used to being lauded.

So, as the holidays approach (yikes), I humbly urge you to take some time and recognize those people who might be hiding because standing out has gone from a spotlight to a prison sentence.