“When I was little, possibly the biggest treat in my life was going to FAO Schwartz, a massive fancy toy store in New York…From across the store, the Lego robots looked solid and statuesque—whole, complete, and monolithic. But when I got up close, I could see all the tiny fissures between the individual Lego pieces, and I could see the thousands and thousands of building blocks, all different colors and shapes interlocking, that made up the thing in front of me. That eight-foot tall dinosaur was really a heap of many tiny pieces, perfectly arranged to create the impression of a singular, unchangeable whole.
When we become aware of the myriad building-blocks of our identity, we get new perspective on who and what we are. What we sometimes mistakenly assume to be one mind, one being, one self, one “me,” is really a construct comprising many interlocking elements. I am never one thing; I am always many. And the many things that I am are themselves the result of, and connected to, many other things.”
~Excerpt from "One City" by Ethan Nichtern
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