There is an inherent magic in the way words get woven into stories. Stories are all around us, waiting to be explored, analysed and learned from. There are so many facets of human nature available to analyse. I shared a very interesting web comic (which you can catch here) with a few of my friends, who share my quirky sense of humor. It also went up on my WhatsApp status. After a few asked me what it meant, my friend and I got thinking. Wasn’t it too obvious? To me it was, but that was because I tend to dwell on the details. Part of my desire to understand human psychology comes from my need to connect the book characters to those around me and part of it is because of my obsession with miniatures and dioramas.

The connection is too obvious when you think of memoirs and biographies. There is an instant connect because the writer is a real person, whom you really like and want to know how they became the person you admire. But look back all your favorite movies, books or shows. Granted not all of us are doctors, chefs, musicians, firefighters or superheroes. But there are the little things that they do that you recognize with.

And then there are critics who don’t see this world they way you do. It infuriates several people, which you can see in the vicious comments that follow on the videos. I lost a very kind soul to the sands of time mid-last year, and whenever I chose to vent to the wise gent, he would rebuke my rants with, “Why do you expect someone to understand something that they’ve never experienced?”

Empathy and sympathy are not interchangeable terms: one is what you feel, the other is what you give.