Hidden

My daughter in law, Tharushi, is on the verge of giving birth.

The experience she is having is not only one that is happening many miles away, in Aberdeen. It is also happening many metaphorical miles away from an experience I can ever (please excuse the pun) conceive of having. An experience which is completely unknown to me, and always will be, as a man.

But although woman who have given birth can identify with what Tharushi is going through, both my wife, who is just arriving in Aberdeen on the bus as I write, and my other daughter in law, Susanna, both of whom have given birth to five children, can only unlock that experience via their foggy memory banks. And even then it won’t have been the same.

Only Tharushi gets to actually experience this one.

And, in terms of our own life experiences, that is true for all of us. Everybody else’s perspective, however empathetic we may be, is Hidden from us if truth be told.

We all get a completely unique perspective on the universe. This is our blessing and our curse.