Everybody's got a story.

Now who can read the mind of the red-headed girl next door, or the taxi driver who just dropped you off, or the classmate that you ignore? Don't assume everything on the surface is what you see, 'cause that classmate just lost her mother, and that taxi-driver's got a Ph.D. I'm so tired of the fear that weighs us down with wrong assumptions of broken hearts and natural function. [You] See my eyes, [but] don't see what I see; [you could] touch my tongue, [but you] don't know what tastes good to me. It's the human condition that keeps us apart. Everybody's got a story that could break your heart.
- Amanda Marshall, Everybody's Got A Story

I love Amanda Marshall, most immediately for her soulful voice, but also for her esoteric lyrics and pouffy hair. Everybody's Got A Story is one of my favourite songs because when I think I've got everything and everybody figured out, it brings me back to the place of realizing how little we all as humans are able to comprehend about one another.
One thing I admire greatly about the youth I've met at Evergreen is their openness and honesty. They have nothing to hide, so they easily (and sometimes too gladly) share the intimate details and goings-on in their lives. They'll tell you exactly how they ended up in the shelter system, or what they think and feel about so-and-so, and so forth.
Amongst the rest of society, emotion just seems so muted in comparison. Less drama is probably a good thing, but there's also a diminution of passion. There's a lot of pussyfooting around, trying not to say something politically incorrect, or offend anybody. It becomes difficult for people to open themselves up to one another or say what they really think or feel.
When I finally have a breakthrough moment over taboo or complacency, I relish the feeling of learning something intimate and new about my friends, and the feeling of added strength to the foundation of relationships. It makes me marvel at what a loving God we have, who already knows all the intimate details of each of our lives, and and still tries hard to get us to open up to Him.

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Over the weekend I started reading a book called The God Factor. It's a collection of interviews between the author, a religion journalist named Cathleen Falsani, and a celebrity or public figureheads on the topic of spirituality and how it affects their lives/work/art. In the media, many causes like to use celebrities as their poster-people and advocates, religion being no exception. So Falsani gets to the root of these people's beliefs, and gets beyond the labels of what faith they claim to follow. I've so far finished three chapters: interviews with Bono, who grew up in the Church of Ireland and is awed by the fact that the "force of love and logic behind the universe... would choose to describe itself as a baby born in sh*t and straw and poverty"; Hugh Hefner, who describes himself as "a pretty moral guy" and claims that the meaning of life and highest moral value is love; and Sandra Bernhard, a devout follower of Kabbalah who reportedly introduced Madonna to the mystical branch of Judaism.
So far, so good. It's interesting to find out more about people's perspectives on spirituality, especially for those who help to shape or define culture during their lives. It's not a book from which to learn values or theology, but it's a good prompt to get yourself thinking about what you do believe, and a way to gain insight into today's varied schools of thought. Especially if one has grown up in the Church, it is hard to understand how others who didn't, view spirituality and religion.