Elegance of the Hedgehog

 “They didn't recognize me," I repeat.

He stops in turn, my hand still on his arm.
"It is because they have never seen you," he says. "I would recognize you anywhere.”
Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

“The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before.”

Albert Einstein

I have written and deleted several attempts to discuss my thoughts on these two quotes because they didn't explain the message of personal challenge that I read in these:

Challenge 1: Try to SEE people! To recognize them as individuals and who they are rather than only that they are a) part of the landscape or b) different, part of a different group or tribe from me or "one of those people" (in the case of the Hedgehog the elegance is hidden beneath conformity, two wonderful characters who deliberate hide in disguises of stereotype and mediocracy and are only recognized by each other and one other eccentric)

Challenge 2: Stay curious! Look beyond what I know, keep learning and get out of my comfort zone.

Cheers

Jeanne