You have every right to your very own spiritual journey

That’s good news if religion just doesn’t seem to fit with you

What is so unique about us? Not in the collective, but as individuals. The answer is, a lot. In fact, there is so much unique about each of us that we have different experiences even while experiencing the same thing.

You and another person can attend a music concert and while each of you will have an overall similar experience in that you will feel the beat of the music and feel a similar response to the lyrics, you will each also have a very unique experience.

Each one will subconsciously, or maybe consciously, drift back in time to the first time they heard the song. Suddenly, the sights, smells, sounds and the feelings engendered by all the senses will make each of you feel like you are right back there. And, those two separate and unique experiences are ones that will only ever be remembered and felt by each of you, independently. Nobody else ever has, or will ever, experience those moments as you did.

The codified differentiator

When my brother died recently and I was talking to family members, I realized there were stories known only to him and me. And when we had talked in the years leading up to his death, how he felt about those experiences was different from my feelings about them. But besides experiencing life and events differently, each of us has something else making us unique.

Genetics. Yes, you share aspects from your parents and the twice-removed uncle who lives in Norway, but beyond those, you have unique genetics shaped by the environment and by decisions you make as you live your life.

Your experience changes your code

Maybe you accidentally inhaled some of the Mycobacterium tuberculosi, and while you didn’t get a full blown case of tuberculosis, that bacterium changed some histones in your immune cells. Those changes turned “off” the IL-12B gene, ultimately weakening your immune system while improving the bacterium’s chances of survival. This is epigenetics and it’s how environmental factors affect your DNA.