Hybrid

Pages from the Black Book, 1989 by Christopher Wool

There came a point when I grew incredibly frustrated and disillusioned, particularly with people's fake, conformist, and egotistical nature. Even the oblivious ones, unaware of their own egotism, disgusted me to the core. Suddenly, everything associated with them reeked of phoniness and, even worse, cult-like behavior. Those who tried to "rebel against the crowd," whether they were intellectuals, bohemians, gypsies, or others who boasted about their unique and superior aesthetic tastes just because they listened to obscure music and worshipped absurdism, were conforming just as much as everyone else. I was sick, sick of everyone! Sick of myself, even! I knew I was rubbing people the wrong way and dragging some down with me, but I couldn't care less. I couldn't pinpoint the source of my intense irritation. Perhaps it stemmed from the realization that people could transcend the mundane, yet many chose to fixate on clichéd, shallow, and predictable identities.

Why are they like that? Why are they so dense? Why did they resist transformation? There's no such thing as a "fixed character." We are nature itself—pliable and malleable, damn it! Beyond the surface lies a myriad of archetypes waiting to be unleashed. Once unleashed, the rich and vibrant essence of the human spirit naturally spills forth, allowing for infinite transmutations of the human form to take place.

Franny, of course, had to call me out for my overly ambitious approach to life. She implied that I was being impractical, excessive, and a little unhinged. She believed I should learn to be content with what I have. Maybe I should tone myself down. But I had to disagree. As I mentioned before, we keep these untapped archetypes bottled up inside us for far too long—so long that we deprive them of air and sunlight, so long that they start to decay, so long that we fail to realize the immense potential already brewing within each of us. Within each of us, there exists the devil, the seductress, the lover, the nurturing mother, the rebellious father, the seer, the scientist, the artist, the musician, the dramatist, the poet, the genius, and so on. The specific archetype that manifests often depends on the situation at hand.

Influence plays a significant role in determining which archetype dominates our lives. For example, a child born into an artistic family is more likely to become an artist themselves, while the same goes for a child born into a family of logicians. Unlike these fortunate individuals, however, I was born into a family with diverse interests. I didn't know what I wanted to become, so I chose to become omniscient. Hah! Yaryt! With one life to live, I began branching out—encountering diverse beings, understanding their ways, and discovering what makes them tick.

During my escapades, I encountered a colorful array of magical oddballs one would only meet in the most unexpected places. The most fascinating among them rarely flaunted their uniqueness to the world, barely showcasing themselves on social media, and scarcely aware of just how captivating they truly were. They slithered away in the shadows, fearing that society would reject their ways. But to me, they remain my greatest mentors, showing me the flipside of existence. They possess a certain je ne sais quoi, as the French would say, that sets them apart from the rest of the flock. They revealed to me a world beyond science and arts, and most importantly, they unveiled a truth—the only truth—an active truth about human nature, which is—