Sharing burdens is a good thing. The problem with sharing burdens, though, is that each sharer has a different backstory. No amount of words, looks, grunts, and glances ever fully communicates what you’re trying to get across. We all see people through our own lenses, and it’s impossible to hand someone else your lens and say, “Here–this is how I see this situation!” Oh, but if we could.

I shared a burden tonight with a friend. My friend shared one with me. We shared the same one, my friend and I, but it’s different just the same. We come to this burden from different backstories. We shared them, but our sharing was inherently imperfect. There’s a slight amount of frustration on my part, and probably from my friend’s, that the sharing isn’t complete.

But as I drove home, the realization came: in sharing our burdens, we’ve created our own backstory. From this point forward, sharing this burden will unite us in ways that we won’t be able to explain to other friends when another, similar burden will need sharing. Oh, it will need sharing, for no burden is truly novel.

The cycle starts anew: in sharing burdens, we share a little piece of ourselves. That’s good: I feel as if I have a lot to share.