A column from the University of Massachusetts Daily Collegian has been diffusing across the country since it was published nearly a month ago. Its writer, Matt Brochu, reveals an uncharacteristic male capacity for reverence and depth as he pines poignantly after the girl of his dreams, a friend who just doesn’t see him “that way” (You can read the original, very touching piece in the archives at www.dailycollegian.com).

Though the column is a work of literary art in itself, what’s even more remarkable is the impact it seems to have had on so many people at colleges far removed from UMass. The number of feedback responses to the column soared from five last Tuesday to nearly 100 by Saturday night. No matter how cheesy you think the column is, you have to admit there’s something special about people writing in from Texas and Florida just to say “Your words reached us here — we know how you feel.”

This is a refreshing example of one of the precious few ties that bind us together, ties that all too often pale in comparison to the personal, social and intellectual rifts that tear us apart.

The column itself is simply about unrequited love, but the collective effect of the dozens of sympathetic responses conveys an even more universal theme: People who go to different schools, live in totally different parts of the country and have different dreams and aspirations all still feel the same way about an unspoken love in their lives.

The universality of this message can be lifted from this narrow context and applied to even the most mundane ups-and-downs of daily life. The message becomes even more powerful, however, when those ups-and-downs aren’t so mundane anymore, and even begin to feel overwhelming and unending, as can happen in this turbulent and stressful holiday season.

But even when emotional hardships don’t reach the epic proportions of clinical depression, there’s still the little downers that gnaw at your heart when you feel alone, surrounded suddenly by strangers amidst colleagues or friends. You feel as if no one understands you, the unpleasant sensation of isolated self-doubt we’re all susceptible to long after leaving puberty behind.

But not only are there people out there who feel very nearly the same way in very nearly the same situation, but there are millions more people who share those generic lonely emotions: confusion, hopelessness and melancholy. No matter how different or alien you feel in this world, it is eternally encouraging to know that there is a core of human experiences that binds us inextricably together — that whatever you are going through, you are never alone.

It is one of the great paradoxes of life that, even while we struggle to be spontaneous, unique beings, we all still yearn at some level for a soul mate who understands our every thought and action.

These days, even the most innocent, open-minded person cannot open a newspaper or turn on a TV without feeling alienated or attacked by some political or interest group.

It’s certainly a defining characteristic of democracy that we like to argue with one another, and open discussion of opinions only strengthens the vitality of this country. But even as the nation benefits in the long run from all this gnashing of political teeth, the casualties of harsh rhetoric fall by the wayside to be trampled beneath the seething mob.

One of the most fascinating things I’ve learned while writing this column all semester is that the people who disagree most vehemently with what I think are also the ones who actually feel exactly the same way I do. They are passionate about their cause and worried for what will happen if their cause is defeated.

It continues to amaze me that people who disagree so acrimoniously on the surface can in fact have so much in common deep down.

This year, make it a Christmas (or holiday) present to yourself to take a step back from the interpersonal contention of daily life. Force yourself to maintain a glimpse of the big picture, of the ridiculous little anthill that earth must appear to any God or omniscient extra-terrestrial life form.

Remember that we’re all just people, and we’re all basically the same in the deepest, most important ways, no matter how superficially different we all are.