I don't know about everybody else in the world, but comments like, "You look familiar," and "Do I know you from somewhere?" have become quite normal for me. I get phone calls and texts from all of the places I've lived asking me if I'm visiting because they "just saw me" - and one time, I even saw a picture and asked myself, "When did I do that?" only to realize it wasn't me. So... apparently I have doppelgängers enough to even confuse myself.
It opens a lot of conversations, mostly slightly awkward, but I guess it's a good conversation starter anyway. Some blame it on my hair color (as it's not the most common), others on my smile or whatever. I even had the following conversation after posting a picture with a friend on Facebook - her dad had commented on whether he'd had triplets (as she is already a twin) and she responded first:
I don't know. It's a weird phenomenon, doppelgängers; it reminds me that people aren't so different. It is only when I am mistaken as someone else entirely that I care. Someone who does not share my hair color, my smile, or whatever other features. And unfortunately that happened through a photo on Facebook today - which provoked me to remove my profile picture altogether. Because I am different.
Perhaps it's an odd reaction, but taking the photo down was my way of empowering myself in my independence and my differences. Although I am glad people are similar, I am also glad people are different. It almost comes back to the Principles of Individualization and embracing one another as unique individuals.
I don't want to come off as misunderstood, as that's not really what I'm getting at, and I also don't want to pretend like what we develop as a community of individuals isn't also empowering. I just think it's important to recognize others in their differences.
To be acknowledged as myself is a wonderful thing - even if I'm the only one who sees it in certain moments.
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