let's see if we can work out how this might go..

I've been thinking about how writers turn a cliché to their advantage; for instance:

The hairs on the back of his neck were rising. [He] had heard that this was because men had been made out of monkeys, and it meant that there was a tiger behind you.
(Terry Pratchett)

[do you think this might make for an ongoing theme, up there where others might conceivably see it?]

Well, we could certainly fill it with Pratchett but!

Well--it's not one of Anu's themes, so based on that I'd say move it. Just my opinion.
Wish I could think of any examples, but so far none.

Well, we could certainly fill it with Pratchett but!

[insert your own punch line here ...]

okay, here's something that's not so pratchettish.

..that's the great thing about being this age. You learn this great lesson of life: it's not about me. It's just not.
(Garrison Keillor, on being 62 y.o.)

Tenessee William's, whom one might have thought never really learned the lesson, put it something like this, 'you realize that you are just one of many.'