Marc,

Its not that complicated – ironically all of us want to be different but we fail to realize how innately similiar we are. Interests and thinking may vary but there is a basic humanity and decency that binds us all. The more we focus on our differances, the more alienated we become. Be yourself but dont hate or dislike others if they are different from you. So what if their interests are more in the majority route? Would you like it if they judged your basic goodness and decency as a human being based on what books you read or movies you watched or what clothes you wore? People are very complex creatures who appear deceptively easy to typecast. Just like you, they are evolving every second. Learn to love and accept despite the differences. Your insecurities create this desire to stand out and conform at the same time. Hence the contradiction. The only way to find peace – just let go and learn to be happy with yourself despite it all. The day you love yourself unconditionally and start looking at the world from a more impartial eye, it wont be that bad, you say the news bothers you- well does the news cover the small wonderful things that happen too? Sacrifices, acts of kindess and selflessness happen everyday alongside brutality. You cant let the negativity cloud it all. Leave your mind and relly get involved in somethong that will shift your view from being different to being of service to others. The ego is a great servant but not a very good master.

– Moon