He's got a huge ego, such a big ego.

" 'God damn it," he said, there are nice things in the world- and I mean nice things. We're all such morons to get so sidetracked. Always, always, always, referring every goddamn thing that happens right back to our lousy little egos."


Ego can be defined as, "the self especially as contrasted with another self or the world."
When I read this, I immediately think of those most egotistical people I have encountered in my life and the toxic nature of those individuals...but then I realize that each of us has the ego in us, and that ego itself is not necessarily some unnatural,evil device. Yet, while one's realization and acknowledgment of "self" is crucial to grasping some sort of understanding as to who we are in this vast world, what is at our core, there is also a very dividing, separate nature that comes with the ego. Must it always be a contrast between ourselves and others? Is this notion of "us vs. them" really necessary in defining our own existence?

We live in a society of competition. Stay on top or get trampled by the herd. Win...or be the loser. Stand your ground to the point of hostility, or be eaten alive in the rat race to the top. Time moves so quickly these days, if you try to slow down for a minute to catch your breath, you get left in the dust.

I can't help but wonder what an ego-less world might look like. Perhaps without the notion of always having to differentiate ourselves from our "opponents," we might begin to see that we are really more alike than we would like to think. And is that really such a bad thing? Sure we have all been raised with the mantras " you're special; you're unique," But there is some sense of comfort and empathy in the realization that we all share this same plight of simply surviving.

Charles Bukowski writes, "...I feel sorry for us all or glad for us all, caught alive together, and awkward in that way..we should build a great bonfire
we should congratulate ourselves on our endurance...that's lighting enough..."

And I could not agree more. "Me too," really is all it takes to remind us all that we are not alone.

And somehow this make life a little less scary.