ABOUT DNA AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Norma from Las Vegas sent me what she remembered of a recent dream.

I am at a giant superstore with family and friends.  We all have our own grocery carts and selecting things we each like.  There were a lot of people at the store, and my three sisters are there, as well as some close friends.  Sometimes we run into each other and admire what the other person has.  Still, we’re each allowed only what fits into our individual carts.  Sometimes we lose sight of each other.  I run into one of my sisters and since our carts are filled, we head towards checkout.

This is a very short dream chock full of nuances and metaphors.

The store itself represents the infinite storehouse of our DNA, filled with millions (maybe gazillions?) of possible supplies which we each need in the adventure we call life.  I’m no DNA expert, but I expect the supplies are endless.  There’s a DNA structure which allows one to dance on their toes (ballet dancers) or to run really fast (Olympic medal champions) or to simulate reality (actors who win Oscars).

As you can imagine, we can each only do a certain limited amount of things in life, and thus the supplies we choose can only fit in a symbolic grocery cart.

The supplies in the superstore include how we look, what talents we have, what character elements we each possess.  In Norma’s case, perhaps her sister is tall and athletic, while she herself is short and chubby.  Since the short sister chose to be brilliant at debate, she had to choose the store supplies which make that possible, which meant she had to bypass the supplies which guaranteed being tall and athletic.

Maybe they both chose the supplies which generates a “sweet tooth,” so they BOTH chose a store provision which makes them binge out on chocolate ice cream.  But there will be other differences, like maybe one sister is blunt and cynical while the other is optimistic and diplomatic.

There are extremes, of course.  Consider an old movie, “RAINMAN,” starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.  They were brothers and you’d think since they shared the same DNA, they’d be pretty much alike.  Not so.  Cruise’s character is heavy on good looks, charm and easy social communication.  Dustin’s character has no clue about any of that, but he was a mathematical whiz… a supergenius when it came to numbers.

Makes sense so far, right? 

Let’s consider another example.  There’s currently a TV series entitled, “THE GOOD DOCTOR” where the title character is an Autistic Savant.  His mind is like a computer when it comes to medical knowledge, but when it comes to the many nuances of social success (empathy, emotional flexibility, intuitive discernment, the immeasurable human ability to “love,” etc.) he neglected to include these store provisions into his DNA cart. 

Norma, your dream is a powerful one.  It EXPLAINS so much about the human condition.  The message is clear:  We are all ALIKE in that we each can express only a limited number of DNA aspects.  Yet, at the same time, we are each uniquely individual in that each of our carts are never EXACTLY the same.

I personally think that’s a wonderful thing.  The challenge for each of us is to understand this reality and while accepting the different supplies people select for their grocery carts (without judgment),  we also embrace that we all shop at the same superstore!

Here's an idea!  What if non-terrestrial beings out there in the infinite cosmos are also shopping at the same superstore!  What a blast, huh?