While I was watching something on YouTube, I realized:

This is a story within a story.

There’s the story of the man in the video.

And there’s the story of me, the man watching the man in the video.

So how many stories are we talking about?

And what if I look outside my window, and see all the people moving through Amsterdam on a busy Saturday afternoon?

Is it a single story?

Multiple stories?

Or is it one story with multiple lives?

My story is not their story, or your story.

Still, they sometimes seem to touch each other.

And then your story becomes part of mine, at least for a while.

And I enter your story and play a part in the narrative that’s called Your Life.

Thinking about these things can make everything really confusing and complex, but they can also lead to profound simplicity.

Millions of stories, all wrapped up in one.

Mine.

This one.

Endlessly playing.

My personal YouTube.

(Photo by @lh21_photo, for Unsplash)