It’s through exchange that we grow, and truth happens as a destructive event: confronted with an irreconcilable fact, the illusion of knowledge cracks and the boundaries of our horizons shatter.

It is as if an inner layer of our identity, once ruptured, begins to flow more freely in a wider space. In that sense, receiving the influence of another is not an abnegation of one’s own belonging. Instead, we break past the bounds that previous circumstances attempted to impose on us.

Imagine geography—country and nation—as the outermost ring in a set of concentric circles of identity; smaller circles within signify smaller social belongings: community, family, down to the pure unicity of the individual. Each of these circles can, and perhaps should, be broken. We readily believe the lie of a definite identity, buoyed by gregariousness and the comfort of validation. Yet today we enjoy unparalleled exposure to the variety of human spirit, and through this otherness the self can affirm its individuality.

It is in recognizing another country, tribe, family, or person that the very concepts of country, tribe, family, or person take shape. Likeness and difference suddenly emerge from darkness, and our consciousness sublates itself into something greater than before.

We are no longer in an era of countries or tribes alone; we live in a world of continuous, instant contact with that which is unlike ourselves. There has never been greater opportunity for self-affirmation and a fuller realization of our potential. The innermost circle of authenticity within us can expand beyond barriers we once thought infrangible—or had never even seen.