Uniqueness

I've been thinking about the concept of uniqueness since I chose the address for this blog. In keeping with my previous (and only other) post, I was baring an insecurity at the time--that nothing in my blog would be unique (read: worth reading). Then someone turned me on to cakewrecks and I realized people are making things that are unique all the time, just by sharing their own take on the everyday. And, in the case of the aforementioned, in a brilliant and hilarious way. What fun it must be to be married to her!

Of course, in my case, I'm not commenting on the goofiness that ensues from mixing too much frosting with artistically inspired ESL students--at least not on a regular basis--so my blog probably speaks to a very small niche by comparison, like: my partner, my friend Kelli and my mom. Scratch the last, she won't want to read a lot of what may eventually wind up on this site.

But I have this idea that the web can be a medium for spirtual guidance if used in the right frame of mind and, for whatever reason, I was moved to start this blog, which led to pondering the concept of uniqueness.

And then I was wandering around downtown the other night, talking to myself and thinking how best to expand my horizons when what I really wanted to do was crawl into a corner and pout, when a man--we'll call him Arkansas--asked to use my cell phone to call a "friend" who was supposed to pick him up at the bus stop. Turned out this man was an itinerant poet, having back spasms at the time and on his way back home to sit in on the trial of the man who raped and murdered his nine year old daughter.

Well, pouting no longer seemed justifiable in the face of this man's troubles, so I stayed with him for a while until he figured out what he wanted to do. And along the way, he made up a poem for me. The title: Portraits of Uniqueness. No shit.

I wish I could remember it. It was about his impressions of me, each impression as a portrait and each portrait unique. When he recited it his voice took on a smooth quality and his words had a singsong lilt. If nothing else meant anything the whole 2 hours I stayed with him, I felt that few moments as a stroke from the universe.