"The person is an identity that emerges through relationship.... If we isolate the 'I' from the 'thou' we lose not only its otherness but also its very being; it simply cannot be without the other." -- John Zizioulas, Communion and Otherness

It is the third week of Anna's freshman year of high school.

Today, like many days, she's filled with anxiety about her place in the world. The anxiety is a sharp, piercing feeling in her chest, like she is a sphere spinning on the point of a cone. Twenty years from now, her remembering self will look back on these feelings as part of the precious journey of discovering herself; but right now, her experiencing self mostly just feels like shit.

Lunch is ending soon. She's about to get up. But she notices a notebook accidentally fall from a fellow student's backpack, as the other student hurriedly walks by. Anna almost raises her voice to alert the other girl -- but the notebook has flopped open on the floor, and Anna notices her own name, ANNA H, in big block letters inside the other girl's notebook.

What?

Curiosity gets the better of her. [...]

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First published:
January 21st, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/m4cGnJDpvs9LWk2dK/finding-yourself-in-others-2

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Communion and Otherness

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