Life is really all about people. We can’t live in a vacuum, or on a lonely island for that matter. We feel an affinity to other people who are similar to us, and thus see reflected back to us how we are already. When we dislike something in another person, it mirrors our shadow side back to us, something we still need to learn or to accept. This means that we define ourselves in comparison to and with the help of others. My meditation teacher Bruce Rubin posted this amazing year-end talk on the human condition and relationships. It’s truly enlightening.