How can I describe how I feel about something?
Everybody in this world has their own unique emotions and feelings. It’s true that many people share similar characteristics and personalities but the sum total of a person’s consciousness can never be defined because it’s absolutely one of a kind.
King David sings “כי אני ידעתי כי גדול י-הוה ואדונינו מכל אלה-ים” (I know that [our] God is greater than any other gods). Rebbe Nachman (‘שיחות הר״ן א) explains that King David was saying “I know God is great” and only I know that God is great. Does this mean that the humble David was boasting about his spiritual and prophetic level? No. What David meant to say is that it’s impossible to relate to another human being the greatness of God. And, as a matter of fact, it’s even impossible to explain the feeling and understanding to ones own self, because tomorrow’s new understanding will replace today’s feelings and I’ll never remember the uniqueness of today.
Life’s experiences are wondrous but on a deeper level they are defined by our particular perceptions. Meaning, what I see isn’t what you see. You might cite Nature vs. Nurture or call this phenomenon something else, but the bottom line is that my world is defined by how I view things and everybody has their own creative mind which leads them to their unique conclusions.
Sometimes this makes me feel isolated, lonely and misunderstood. We humans want to relate to others and if we are living in our own world, then how can we know what’s right and how to think? Not only that but sometimes I try describing to people my thoughts and emotions and I’m left feeling frustrated by their inability to understand me or by their own self absorbed biases. But somehow when I speak to Hashem (God) in my own words I truly feel fully understood. I can’t explain it! Even though I find it difficult to describe my feelings to Him, I believe that He ‘fills in the blanks’ for me and I’m left feeling understood, alleviated, relaxed and at ease.
אהלל דבר 
Davy, I really enjoyed your post… Especially, the part about how minute to minute our thoughts/understanding/relationship with Hashem changes… Honestly that’s the most beautiful thing of all B/C Hashem is everywhere and we can grab him at any point even when we feel that we are in a “low” place.
On that note, I wonder what you mean about feeling misunderstood by some people. We are all human with human experiences and G-Dliness within us. Yes, our relationship with Hashem is very personal, and He definitely GETS IT! But, just because a person feels something very deeply does not mean that somebody else doesn’t understand it. We all feel deep feelings, it may or may not be on the same subject, but we all know what a deep feeling is. The deep feelings are not unique to you.
In fact, yours will come and go, just like everyone elses. So there is no need to feel isolated because we are all on the personal treadmill of life going thru its ups and downs In Hashems world. Truth be told, I’ve learned myself how not unique I am… it sounds depressing but its actually very uplifting. It kind of opens your eyes to the world around you, and fills you up with something greater than yourself.
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Hi Effie: Thanks for your comments. I hope this forum continues to stimulate these types of discussion. I like how you were able to turn the ideas around and look at them from another point of view, like the beauty of not being so unique and the freshness of every minute.
I guess what I meant by “sometimes feeling isolation” is that although its true that we all experience deep feelings and we can empathize (sometimes) with someone who is having a deep emotion, I occasionally find that when I’m trying to describe my emotions to another person I’m left frustrated because (a) it’s too difficult to characterize the depth of the feeling and all the factors that brought it about. and (b) depending on the person or the situation, they might either be looking to solve the problem, respond with insincere empathy or are to pre-occupied with their own thoughts to really hear me out correctly.
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I am so thankful for your mesirus nefesh of שפיכת הלב.
Ashrecha, Ashreinu.
Shlomo
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Thanks Shlomo. miss you. Davy
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