KATANAGATARI 3

Once you start down the path with this sort of thinking, you never stop, so it’s best to never pay it any mind at all, but for the record, let me say that nothing is more upsetting than when someone shows you just how big the gap between your skill and theirs really is. This has absolutely nothing to do with them being more dedicated or diligent, more focused or gung-ho, and everything to do with them being leagues ahead of you─stronger, plain and simple. While I’m the first to be suspicious whenever anybody mentions genius, some things can only be explained as gifts (or curses?) from the gods, and bizarrely, these things seem to pop up fairly often. Most people want to think they’re special, on account of which they often wind up feeling frustrated, but when you get right down to it, thinking that you’re special is just a way of wishing like a madman you were special, when you know you’re really not. There’s nothing special about being special, if you are, which probably makes the really special people overlook what makes them that way, focusing instead on whatever seems special in their eyes, which sends them down the same slippery slope as normal folks. This is the sort of thing that’s funny if you have an audience, but unfortunately, in the real world, we perform for no one but ourselves. I’m not saying genius is a casualty─I’m just saying that while things could always be worse than they are, there’s a cap on how good things can get. Know what I’m saying? Since people are never happy with the status quo, some special people probably wind up wondering what good being special ever did for them. But if you go down that rabbit hole, soon you’ll be saying that you’re special just the way you are, so who needs talent anyway, let other people have it, sounding like a person who has given up for good, and you know what? Maybe it takes a normal person to appreciate the workings of a beautiful mind. Otherwise, how could we ever stand in awe of anything?