{"id":52383,"title":"The Question That Started It All","description":"A boy walking away from the viewer in an open space, wearing a black cotton t-shirt, some glitches appear on the side of the image as if we were looking it through a screen with interference.","content":"

What kind of world would I want to live in, if I didn\u2019t know who I\u2019d be in it?<\/span><\/em><\/p>

I stumbled upon that question during a late-night philosophical exchange with ChatGPT. (Yes, I do that sometimes, just for fun.) It wasn\u2019t entirely new to me, as a child I\u2019d already wondered: why was I born where I was born, into my family, in my country, on that continent? A string of random events had to align, and yet those events have shaped the course of my life far more than I\u2019d like to admit.<\/span><\/p>

We inherit a lottery number at birth. We don\u2019t earn it, and we can\u2019t exchange it, but it determines so much of what lies ahead. As a kid, I remember thinking: <\/span>In the lottery of life, did I get a lucky number?<\/span><\/em><\/p>

So I\u2019ll ask you again, because it\u2019s worth pausing on: <\/span>What kind of world would you want to live in, if you didn\u2019t know who you\u2019d be in it?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>

I don\u2019t have a neat answer for myself. But the question changed something in me. It exposed how much my view of the world is shaped by my own upbringing, experiences and turning points. It also made it evident: things that matter deeply to me, may not matter to others. In imagining the \u201cideal\u201d world for myself, I realised how easy it is to ignore those for whom my ideal might be unfavourable or out of reach.<\/span><\/p>

Life is full of these invisible glitches, tiny shifts that could have changed everything: where we\u2019re born, who raises us, which chances appear and which never do. We have everyday examples that remind us that life is not fair, and that we\u2019re not all equal. It is not my goal to try to solve that. My goal is to put the spotlight on the \u201cother\u201d, the person that is not you, but that could have been you.<\/span><\/p>

I realized I am not really aiming for fairness, because I don't know if that\u2019s feasible, but I think we all could do with a little more empathy. A little more of \u2018<\/span>let\u2019s put myself in their shoes<\/span><\/em>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>

I realized I am not really aiming for fairness, because I don't know if that\u2019s feasible, but I think we all could do with a little more empathy. A little more of \u2018<\/span>let\u2019s put myself in their shoes<\/span><\/em>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>

Because as different as we appear, there\u2019s a common thread running through us. We\u2019re built from the same fabric. Deep down, we\u2019re searching for the same things: to be seen, loved, cared for, acknowledged, call it what you will. And in that quest, I think we\u2019re all the same.<\/span><\/p>


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