A family member described as, “a complicated man with complicated relationships,” passed away recently. There’s much to unpack in that insightful passage, and one can walk away with various interpretations of it.

If we take the complexity on its face, then contrary to what we might expect out of Hollywood, where someone’s the villain, or the hero, or the bystander, or the victim, in real life we’re laid bare, exposing all our humanity in all its beautiful squishiness and nuance. Who among us would agree to being described by just one word? We justifiably defy simple labels.

Walt Whitman said it best when he wrote, “I am large. I contain multitudes.”

Perhaps we’re more similar to one another—especially in our shared complexity—than we thought.

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