Everyday Canvas

Hidden Worlds inside Human Beings

Prompt: Johnny Depp said, "My sickness is that I'm fascinated by human behavior, by what's underneath the surface, by the worlds inside people." In what ways, do you think, can you see through what’s underneath the surface of a person?

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If we look into a drop of anything on the glass of a microscope, aren’t we feel astonished by what is there underneath? Then, each slide we put under the scope is different, its own, and can never be recreated. I believe, so are the people. We may look alike, dress alike, talk alike, use the same gestures, and even we may guess that we are thinking alike. Despite our likenesses, each one of us is a universe in his or her own right, both in the way we are physically, but also mentally and psychologically.

Not only are we different in the ways we are, but also, in the ways we change as we progress throughout our lives. Even our views of our own behaviors are unique. Some of us rationalize their decisions along the way, while others beat themselves up.

I love watching people and analyzing them, as if from an observatory at a distance, because I am fascinated by the human condition. Even inside the first layer under the surface of a person, a gigantic expanse of reactions, messages, and other content exist. Knowing this makes humans the most captivating subjects for musicians, authors, and other people in the various areas of the arts.

For all my observing, can I see through what’s underneath a person? Not really, but sometimes I get a hint of him or her, but only a hint. Even that hint comes about not through some tried-and-true scientific knowledge but my not-too-strong intuition. Even myself, some parts of me I know through intuition. This is because, in the past, there have been instances when I surprised myself, and I predict, there will be more in the future if I live long enough.

That is why we have to allow ourselves to see and respect people as they are and not the way we want them to be. I think when we stop believing in the worlds inside a person, any person, and we push them to be this way or that way, we may end up breaking or harming something valuable, like some precious world, inside them.