If my early twenties were driven by a curiosity for and an appreciation of individuals’ different flavors of thought, decision-making processes, belief systems, and other idiosyncrasies, my mid-twenties mark a nostalgic, and perhaps unwise, return to the comfort of similarity.

I am admittedly a little tired of pushing against the boundaries of self-image in hopes of maximizing the shared area inside our interpersonal Venn diagram.

Frankly, our innate capacity to comprehend each other is inherently limited by the existence of “each other”.

Time and time again I withdraw to this cynical bend, only to rebound with a spontaneous appetite for human connection. A regrettable habit that begs me to question whether social relationships are governed by empathy or tolerance.

The difference in subjective value is routinely accepted in all matters and things, yet stigmatized in the context of friendship.

I think it’s time to move on from the incurrence of social guilt from breaching implicit conditions and be more explicit in our navigation of all waters, deep or shallow.