Circle of Life

Thanks to The Lion King, my little boy uses the circle of life to help him accept death better. I was thinking this morning of all the metaphors for life and death as well as the different milestones that we set up to understand where we are on our journey. One set of milestones that have become important to me involves uniqueness. I think we begin thinking that we are plural. We are connected to all that is around us. Once we discover our singularity, we spend years and years trying to cultivate it. Part of reaching maturity is finding our own voice. I used to think that was the end, but I don't think that's the case. Over time or perhaps traumatically, we come to realize that we are not unique. Our voice sounds like that of many others who live, who have lived and who will live. Initially, this may come as a shock and may even be be resisted. But I think embracing the fact that we are not unique and that we are more like others than is not is a milestone. We begin to see ourselves singing harmonies rather than solo's. And then perhaps the final milestone will be when the sound of our voice no longer becomes importance. At death, we're ready for the sound of our voices to fade completely and return to that time when there was no single identity.