Connectivity

Ultimately, frogs’ skin is indistinguishable. We run the reductionist risk of lumping frogs into superfluously catholic categories. The opposite, but equally unrealistic, extreme is each frog for himself. Instead, frogs find ways to make the puddle smaller. (link) Communities, whether self-labeled, unlabeled, (by association), or exclusive and fluid, are all guised attempts at making the puddle smaller.

Identity

Elaborate systems are formed to regulate, identify and engage members; these in turn play an instrumental role in forming (link?) frogs’ individual identities. Spuriously, frogs are inculcated with a mass produced, pre-packaged identity. Some systems are more pervasive than others, incorporating all aspects of a frog’s life and sparing none from the watchful eye of the body politic. Such is the community from which our hero hails.

Relativity

Yet some frogs manage to evade absolute programming. Others stumble across a crack, a tonic view, of a parallel reality. A frog who has shaken off, or witnessed the crumbling of, their original community finds themselves in the realm of black and white. Not gray; that would indicate fusion. Instead, the frog can, like its distant reptilian cousin the chameleon, step in and out of whatever system they are surrounded by.

Verity

There is a price for everything. Ventures into new realms are accompanied by uncertainty, feeding the guilt of sidling (looking to the side) another lifestyle. The temptation of the familiar can be irresistible; so much that some frogs quickly recoil - even when their heart is elsewhere. Backtracking to the familiar strains a frog’s moral compass, eschewing fulfillment and self-expression. The psychological rule of thumb: when unsure, retreat from the frontier. Prescribed relationships, previously assumed naturally, turn thespian. The familiar becomes a role-play, whose perfunctory character diminishes any value held by wholehearted community members.

Serenity

Liberation is not a gradual process. Progress cannot be translated into percentages of an end product. Frogs must reach absolute resolution, re-establishing themselves in a comfortable place. This is the only way to true happiness.