The image of the tangled wires and the signage for the medical clinic and three tailors is a flash back to an era when everything fit or was made to fit your own size. Or when every phone line was wired directly back to some switchboard.  I stopped at the tailors today and had two sport shirts made with 1/2 centimetre allowance for shrinkage.  The loss of customization and the default emergence of a one-size-fits-all culture may work for life-savers and in emergencies but as a way of dealing with the almighty diversity of creatures and situations it’s a failing.  The life ring might be alright to hold on to, but it will not serve as a ring around anything.

In the waters below the pier a school of fish with a rainbow of colour passed our reviewing stand.  Amazing!  Right when we least expected them.  All sizes and shapes. As diverse as the drops of water they swim in.

A few blocks further, OK kilometres, in the local mall (say collective of tourist stands) I tried on several hats.  They were all of the one-size-fits-all variety and none would fit my swollen head!  What was interesting was variety and colour.  Wandering a little further I was giving thought to how often I have tried to fit everyone I meet into the same slots.  How often I reach for standardization as convenience.  The behaviour itself leaves very little room for creativity or creaturly diversity.

On an early morning walk Margaret and I paused on the trail to have digital image snapped.  The morning light over the bay was unique.  The foliage in the tropical jungle unique, the location unique, the lighting unique, the moment unique.  What becomes really evident is the uniqueness of each moment, person, place and response.  Living unique lives is probably a more normed way to be!