The Object of Life
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Book IV, Chapter 29 of Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations." A 40-year-old family member I’ve been estranged from for five years recently wrote me a five-page letter expressing their anger with me. Between correcting my flawed thinking and accusing me of being sociopathic, I was made to understand that I needed to take my share – the bulk – of responsibility for our current situation of estrangement. Out of the blue, about a week prior to receiving that delightful letter, a younger family member, who I had also not seen in a few years, asked to see me. Less than 10 minutes after arriving at our meeting, he brought up the subject of the estrangement and questioned the reasons for it. I should have known better. I think I did know better. But, I foolishly chose to answer transparently. Soon after the meeting, that young person gave the estranged family member