Rhona Canoy SO... Sometimes I can be as guilty as the next person and get caught up in my own puffed-up sense of self-importance. That is the human being’s biggest flaw, I think. Believing that the world revolves around us, and that we know better than the next Juan. Cong and I discussed something similar at the last Losers’ Ball. The proverbial box. The individual containers which define each of our’s existence. We spend so much time defending and protecting the invisible boundaries by which we define ourselves, so much so that we exclude the magic that exists outside because we don’t agree with it. Or much worse, because it frightens us. Within this box, we base everything we believe in, everything we know or accept to be truth. Megalomania, narcissism, selfighteousness, vanity... call it what you will. Wars have been fought because of it. Friendships have died because of it. Families have been divided because of it. So when I find myself falling into that rabbit hole, I make a gargantuan effort to step back and ponder on life’s truest mysteries. They surely put things in the proper perspective very quickly. Here are some I think are worth sharing with you. ...Why do we have such a fear of cockroaches? When a cockroach crosses an open space and looks up at the slipper fast approaching, does it think the slipper is God? (Please don’t call me a blasphemer or heretic. This is a philosophical, not a religious, query.) …When my dogs look at me, do they think, “My human is really stupid…”? …Do I have any idea how much crap my brain has to process on any given day? …Why do people obsess over their reputations? Doesn’t it follow that your reputation is the result of how you live your life? (This one I actually have some kind of answer to—Worry about your reputation if you have something to hide. Otherwise, it’s all cool.) …Do the stinky bacteria in my stinky sneakers hate my socks for preventing them to gain access to my foot? …When I get offended by what someone says, is it because that person had the nerve or is it because what was said has some truth in it? …If I ever were in an accident, would the emergency room doctor care if I have holes in my underwear? (This “truth” has been handed down through generations.) …If a group has a once-a-year-only medical mission or only a once-a-year-only feeding activity for the less fortunate children, does this make them a civic organization? …Does my smartphone make me smarter or more stupid? …When a bird craps on your windshield, is it sending a message? …And the biggest mystery one of all--If all human beings were erased from the face of the earth, would the world be a better place for everything else living in it? So the next time you feel all bloated with glory, look for your mysteries. They’re all there hiding in your brain. And maybe you can realize that our existence is relative to everything and everyone else around us. And we’re not as important as we would like to believe.