I have always felt like an alien among human beings. Or maybe I thought I was the human and almost everybody else was an alien. I’m not certain.
I’ve never hated the creatures among whom I walked. I just felt disconnected. I felt as if I was in the wrong place. I felt as if I was looking for something — someone? some place? — where I would find my own kind. Somewhere I would feel loved and understood. Somewhere I would feel at home. With someone I could trust. No longer the strange alien who didn’t fit.
I’ve recently found a line from an old song playing over and over in my head when I encounter things which make me feel this way. It happened again tonight. When I feel detached and troubled about what’s all around me, I feel myself withdrawing emotionally and I hear David Bowie singing bits and pieces of a song — and I always hear, over and over — the line which goes, “Is there life on Mars?”
And I feel like an alien who’s spent years looking for what he needs on Earth and he turns away in hurt and sorrow, asking whether there might be love and life for him on Mars instead.
Politicians sometimes lie even when they know they’ll be caught
Why does anyone else care what Elon Musk does with his money?
Lack of specific needs and wants makes my world feel meaningless
Getting better at all I do is only way to fight ‘imposter syndrome’
I’m losing need to explain myself to those who misunderstand me
Great men who change the world rarely look impressive from start
Leopards might not change spots, but cowardly lions can gain courage
Two sets of rules: One for the public and a very different set for police
My father’s narcissistic abuse led to my mother’s attempt to kill him