WHAT'S THE NORM? Quite often, I find myself sitting here wondering... what *is* the "norm"? More often than not, I believe that I am not. In fact, in many ways... I feel I am the exception. Grab our lives by the tuft and toss it on the examining table for a moment to understand ourselves better. Examine each facet our lives. We each excel in different ways... and each have our emotional and mental pitfalls as well. Our value systems differ, as do our pocketbooks. If this is true how can we truly compare ourselves to others effectively? I place so much value on the work I do when I'm *not* at "work". Other invest their energy in other activities... other facets of their lives. Appears we can only examine and compare each facet, because the "whole" is so incomparable. One facet examined... Admittedly, lately, I've been examining my own personal relationships. The history... the similarities, the differences... weighing healthy vs. unhealthy... happiness vs. unhappiness... passion vs. indifference. The fact I even think about myself in this manner leads me to believe that I am the exception... the "odd one out". Which easily feeds my distaste for the whole realm of magical relationships altogether. The cyclical, collective disallusion has become somewhat humorous to me. No matter how much up-front honesty is shared... people sincerely believe what they may believe. That sincerity feeds my disallusionment, tainting my logic out of some odd yearning for "magic"... eventually, I'm right. We move on. peace- seanrox