We live in a culture of individuality:
what we aspire to,
a filling ourselves up
with ourselves.
Ah, the miracle!
We might well fear loneliness
in quest for that unique seed
we term Self.
Still, something inside thrums,
knows to its core we are not now,
nor have we ever been
Separate.
Individual.
That is the myth of modernity.
What have we left behind then,
in this search for singularity?
How can we exist as unique,
save in relation to others?
Without them, who will tell us
of our wonder, our splendor,
our prowess and might,
our superior intellect?
Who will be there to stroke
our massive ego
in a strange little universe
Alone?
Wonderful thoughts Bela. We are ONE…
Love and Blessings. Sue
Sue, yes. Yes! Thank you <3
Love your line on filling ourselves up with ourselves. With all the social media out there, we’ve become obsessed with self-promotion, constantly documenting our thoughts and activities without actually feeling and experiencing it ourselves. Thank you for sharing your powerful words. Cheers and happy blogging!
Thanks for your voice. And yes, I agree. Many lose sight of what’s genuine and felt in favor of image consciousness. And I thought I had problems with that growing up in the 60’s! 😉 Well, it was just different. Aloha, and cheers to you!
I do agree, this is a modern day conundrum, Bela! I want to be part of the world, hoping we all work together, but also wish to stay an individual, like you! Smiles and hope you have a wonderful rest of the week, Bela!
Robin, I think it’s a national dilemma if not a human dilemma rather than a personal one, at least for me.
We currently seem so obsessed with ourselves on so many levels, down to participating in social media to rake in all the hyped-up ‘support,’ some of which is, for sure, genuine. And yet.
We do desire connection, yet it seems increasingly we have no time for maintaining relationships that are meaningful to us. Instant everything means instantly moving on, as if we are better off without whatever or whomever does not support our idealized version of ourselves. Yet it also shrinks time spent in self reflection, where we are able to recognize our motivations and culpability within interactions, enriching subsequent encounters and deepening our compassionate nature, as a result.
Truly loving oneself, in my experience anyway, engenders the desire and fosters the ability to reach out in meaningful, unselfish ways to collaborate rather than exclude. At least that’s the view from where I sit 🙂
Thanks so much for your contributions, as always! Enjoy your week! <3
What a wonderfully deep invitation to think Bela, for which many thanks. It is most timely to read your insightful words now too, as I am currently writing a piece on the individual and the collective, and how the individual stands as a synecdoche for the collective. In other words, in coming to understand oneself, one simultaneously understands the other (the collective) in very large degree. This is the birth of compassion, and dare I say it, resolves the conundrum?
Hariod <3
Hariod, I’m anticipating your own writing on the topic, which is always superb.
I completely agree that, and since I cannot use italics here I will single quote, ‘truly’ knowing oneself – in other words, knowing the shadows as well as the bright places – absolutely results in a growing and deepening compassion for all of life.
In my world, you can of course say it resolves the conundrum! And I would not disagree with you 😉
Aloha and love,
Bela
Lovely post, Bela. Yes, we must be seen in relation to others…
And I also believe the idea that the individual is supreme is a modern myth…at least in our culture. I wonder why it is aways technology and social media that is blamed for this myth? Imperfect as it is, our technology and our embrace of social media defy the idea that one can exist alone. Love to you 🙂
Agreed and great point. Although social media tends to encapsulate and abbreviate communication and minimize face to face, times are changing. And this is but one phase of human evolvement, like it or not; a collective choice. After all, it brings people together from all over the world in a way nothing else ever could in the past. We are actually able to experience others’ perceptions and feelings in the midst of social change as it is happening. Which can be quite exciting!
Love back, VL. Enjoy the upcoming week!
Bela
Alone yet connected
Connected yet alone
Unending tug of war
Yes indeed, in the world of perceptions.