Have you ever had the experience of a single theme or idea bubbling up in seemingly unrelated parts of your life, creating the most lovely emotional resonance? I have. I did recently, as a matter of fact. And since that’s how I roll, I’m going to tell you about it.

First things first. Have you seen Chimamanda Adichie’s TED Talk on the danger of a single story? It is one of my favorite TEDs of all time. It’s also my go-to reference when talking about the importance of diversity in literature,...