The amazing thing: she seems to be a terrific artist. And that should be enough. But it wasn’t.

Like the man on the bike, and the only gay in the village – she invested way too much in “identity as status,” and in the end, that currency  runs out, because everyone has so much of it.

You end up, as you are: you, alone.

We like or dislike you, based on your basic decency. Identity politics and divisive ideology has poisoned so many minds that we forget that we are all humans on this planet–and despite our past travesties, we do respond to the eternal values of compassion, generosity, hard work, and honesty.

Relying on one’s identity (real, chosen, or fabricated) only leads you to a more subtle form of isolation and misery. You realize that none of your relationships are real, because they are predicated on lies driven by insecurity.