GENUINE ARTICLE
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.”
— Margaret Mead
I’m constantly on the lookout for different ways of thinking about our uniqueness and our universality, the essential individualism and connectedness of human experience.
Each of us is born to be truly oneself, to reveal and express this original soul. And, at the same time, our purpose and fulfillment can be realized only through and with each other — in relationship, community.
Ultimately, our being and becoming, both personal and collective, is a reciprocal process. Every single one-and-only is co-creating every single other and the world, and vice versa in all directions.
A couple of weeks ago, the Merriam-Webster Instagram account offered an interesting bit about the etymology of the word “article.”
It comes from the Greek, arthron, which means “point of connection” or “joint.” We can hear this clearly in “arthritis,” inflammation of the joints. Likewise, newspaper and magazine articles are connected within an edition or printing. Articles of incorporation are a collection of data and documentation, together establishing the legal existence of an entity.
On the other hand… If someone is an articulate communicator, this means they separate their speech into clear and distinct sounds, rather than slurring it all together. An article of clothing is a single thing; whether it’s part of an outfit, or one of many on a rack, or a one-of-a-kind piece — in any case, an article is just one. If we refer to something as “the genuine article,” we’re calling it the real deal, a prime example of its type. Again, it’s one — THE one.
So, it seems like there’s some contradiction, maybe paradox, built in to this word. Article and articulate can mean distinctness and separation. And it also suggests a greater whole, the parts are connected in and through their articulation.
In grammar, articles are words that precede nouns, determining how specific the noun is meant to be. In English, our articles are a/an and the. A banana might refer to any of many, or to bananas, generally. The banana means a particular one. An airplane, a guinea pig, and an emotion are abstract and conceptual. The airplane, the guinea pig, and the emotion are defined and actual.
“A” and “an” are called indefinite articles. “The” is a definite article. Interestingly, all articles, in language, are always connected to another word. They don’t stand alone, even when they refer to one specific stand-alone thing. They’re always hitched to a noun (or the noun).
Another way of thinking about it is that the definite article — the — signifies something known. Indefinite articles — a/an — suggest something unknown.
Which makes me wonder about how we conceive of ourselves. When do I think of myself as a person, one of a multitude. And when am I the one-and-only me? How do I see myself a point of connection, a possibility, a life unfolding in wondrous abstraction and imagination? And how do I know the self, this self, defined and limited here now, powerfully actualized, perhaps, but at what cost?
Also, how I think of the Divine. Can it be The Divine, really, or am I already in a misnomer? Because it seems like maybe A Divine brings a more appropriate articulation to infinity’s boundless connections, defying containment by mere words and knowledge.
My original title was “The Genuine Article.” But I had to drop the “the” because I can’t think of anything more genuine, authentic, real, and connective than not-knowing. I didn’t even want to set it up as an opposition between the article and an article, between definite and indefinite, because the reality has to include both. An idea and a feeling, connected to all ideas and feelings. A human, part of all humanity. A story, a life, an experience expressing, sharing, and relating our togetherness. I can wait to be with you this Sunday, March 15, 10:00am at q-Staff Theatre. With a divine Patty Stephens. XO, Drew
©2026 Drew Groves
