Shrek Was Right

"Ogres are like onions... We both have layers." -Shrek

Okay, okay, this is extremely random, and yes, I am a 27-year-old writing a blog post about the children's movie Shrek. Whatever, there are weirder things to write about. You can't deny it, though. Shrek knew what was up.

I'm taking artistic license here and replacing 'ogres' with 'humans' (sorry, ogres). I've been thinking a lot recently about the concept of having different layers or parts to us. We are such complex beings. There is so much cognitively going on within each of us every second of every day. The layers are infinite. The possibilities for emotions are therefore, also endless.

I've felt a steady hum of one emotion - anxiety - for quite some time, and I'm almost always consciously aware of it. Anxiety is one of my layers. It is a strong layer, but it isn't the only one. I guess that's what I'm trying to get at - we aren't only one thing, one emotion, one thought, one struggle. We are all of them, all at once, always. And that is okay.

Our multi-layered existences make us human. They are the reason we can cry tears of happiness or break into hysterical fits of laughter. They are the reason why we feel deep pain when our loved one is hurting, or why yawning is contagious. Our layers allow for the strongest of hopes and the bravest of souls. They make life unpredictable and scary. They cause us heartbreak and great pleasure and everything in between and beyond, forever.

Just like onions, sometimes life stinks and makes us cry. But they also come in the form of delicious, hot, greasy onion rings at the local dive bar around the corner. Yum. I don't know why I am taking the time to compare our lives to a pungent vegetable, but here we are.

Anyway, we have layers. They are cool. Mostly. Whatever, you get the point.