Whereas it seems like everything is happening in a small vacuum to me personally, it makes a lot more sense that there is a contingency of people going through the same journey. It is liberating in a way to feel unique. But it is unrealistic, and it may end up leading to nowhere.

We humans set up situations to encourage a feeling of bonding. Like national holidays. It is then that you’re supposed to feel connected. We don’t understand that we are always connected, in deeper ways than that. We don’t talk about that though, in mixed company. Maybe in secret rooms, secret hiding places.

I imagine many things are generational. I am unintentionally experiencing life in much the same way as others in my generation. They like to label generations. But that’s an external label, which doesn’t tell you much about your personal experience of it. I think I am aware of this generational bias, and I try to steer Cody in healthier, better directions, having learned what works and what leads nowhere. I would like him not to have to repeat the same mistakes I made (and still make). Maybe he can’t simply by virtue of his being in a totally new generation. It’s funny – I feel such a bond with him, but in the end he will be living (and has already lived) in such a different culture and world. Even the difference between Naples and Potomac is pretty vast. Plus Potomac in the 70s and 80s and Naples in the 10s are starkly different I’m sure.