A bright smile in a crowd of agony. A white dove with a similar resemblance of heaven in a flock of black crows. All stunning scenes. I mean who wouldn’t want to stick out from the crowd, feel special, or feel a sense of pride knowing that they’re unlike the others? But what does this mean for the rest of us, should we be degraded because we don’t process these similar attributes? Or looked down upon due to our imperfections? What does it mean to be ¨human-like¨ and what would fit the basis of this negatively portrayed phrase?  Describing something as ¨human-like¨ can be translated into making mistakes, showing signs of, weakness, or in simple terms, being average. In response to this, some may be quick to ask why should we care so much, by the end of the day we’re all human and are not all that different from one another. But truthfully, possessing these ¨human-like¨ attributes is essential by setting us apart from one another, hence creating individuality. Initially, it may sound bogus, how can our shared imperfections bring out the best of our atypical qualities? It all starts with a change in one’s psyche. Those who view perceive others with these qualities as immature or bothersome fail to see the necessity of possessing these traits. In simple terms, it is similar to the process of trial and error, in order to learn and to advance, one must experience failure to do so. Imagine a world where mistakes weren’t made and errors were nonexistent, where everyone possesses uniform thoughts, personalities, and opinions. In short, imagine being surrounded by a dystopian mob. These mistakes and these ¨human-like¨ attributes that are so looked down upon make up each and every one of us. 

Although it may seem easy to put up a forefront or put our dreaded qualities behind a false persona, the barrier is thin and will demolish in a matter of time. So why do humans feel the need to hide our innermost self? Could it be due to our fear of judgment or unwillingness to accept help from others? Both factors come into play when discussing the human psyche. None of us can help it, it’s natural to want to appear a certain way, to check all the boxes on how to become the ideal person we strive to be, so if putting out true selves behind a curtain does what it takes, we risk it. But eventually, we must realize that the more we try escaping from ourselves, the longer it will take for us to discover the beauty within ourselves, shortening our time to appreciate these qualities. Similar to the 1950’s film The Seven Samurai, “I was afraid of myself, I was fleeing myself, I wished to destroy myself.” wishing to change ourselves will only end up in self-deprecation, destroying the features that make us who we are entirely. In order to change ourselves, we must look at the bigger picture and change the way we perceive them. Because in the end, the characters in the movie realized that, “that love is the most important thing in the world” no matter if it is love for yourself or for the sake of someone else, realizing this is already one step further to finding the meaning of self-love. And if it takes as long as months or years for someone to realize this, so be it. In the end, no matter how long, we’ll all look back on our circle of life and realize that our journey is a part of our beauty, the length of time that it takes us to figure this out is irreplaceable.  Because if we never go through these endeavors, we will have never experience the love, pain, and grief that all make us up, our beautiful selves. Surely there will be few in society who will never face challenges, those are envied, although it’s shortly one-sided. From the novel Siddhartha, there were countless lessons taught and one of them is that those who may appear as flawless, may also be hiding like the rest of us, “He envied them for the one thing that was missing from him and that they had, the importance they were able to attach to their lives, the amount of passion in their joys and fears, the fearful but sweet happiness of being constantly in love. These people were all of the time in love with themselves, with women, with their children, with honors or money, with plans or hopes¨.  Learning to embrace ourselves and let our inner selves shine through not only helps us become better civilians in society, it also lets us become the individuals we initially strived to be with or without knowing. Because in the end, “War is not won alone” it may take others or it may be a solo route, but the journey to overcome our most difficult tribulations eventually leads to the beauty of self-gratification and the discovery of self-worth.