There is a song by John Donne, No Man is An Island... no man stands alone. I seem to differ. One comes to this earth alone via the umbilical cord of the mother and then we are taken care of until one supposedly is ready to face the world. One which we have not been taught to live in... in school. A world if you were left to discover alone and on your own and which your parents were clueless as to how to be happy, successful, harmonious, fear free, courageous, gentle, etc, etc. became a jungle and a survival episode.
How many of you out there were never taught these values and had to learn them through trial and error? How many of you were raised in other households whose parents' values differed from yours and you also had to find your way through other sources? How many of you felt alone in your life quests at some point in your life, even if you had the perfect household? How many of you became ill in your adult life and had to relinquish your goals and in so doing, all the lessons had to be modified and trial and error reinstated? How many of you found that others find the answers without trepidation and others feel the fear incessantly?
But I sense that each one of us faces these questions even if not always in some aspects of our lives when we feel powerlessness facing our existence. It makes us feel we have learned absolutely nothing and a blank dreaded slate is placed in front of us. We ask ourselves what can we do? Should we let others help us? Will their help disrupt the normal sequence of events that are there to happen? Will help disable us more? Will others help confuse our focus to our resolve?
Life is about placing one foot in front of the other, regardless. You hear people say, "the best thing that God did was one day after the other." I guess that is a good thing, except when you are dying and the next day is one less day. Does not seem applicable for everyone, don't you think? Or you are sick and do not know why every day symptoms are exacerbated. If you believe in God, they probably respond to this statement: "God is timeless!" Then I would ask, "why did God allow us to have a clock, and a way of measuring days and nights?"
Today I have no answers but I feel that each man is an island no matter how much love, or humans surround us. Because we live alone within ourselves and we die alone within our bodies. And sometimes never being truly understood by others. Why do I say this? Because it is so very difficult to understand ourselves, how could anyone else even remotely understand us?
I'm not sure I agree. As islands are altered by way of water and wind and sun, so is each one of us affected to varying degrees by the people we meet in the course of our lives. There is an adage which says that we are each the sumtotal of our life's experiences. So true. And part of those experiences are the family, friends and acquaintances we have come to know.
ReplyDeleteWhile we might resist change, it is not possible for change often happens at a subconscious level far beyond our control. Each event, encounter, smile, kiss, tear, tragedy and ecstasy helps mold the person we are at any one time.
And while getting a full grasp of why we do the things we do might not always be a simple task, it often is easier for the people closest in our lives to understand. They are not burdened with the minutae of our lives and the bigger picture is more obvious to them.
No man or woman should be an island or ever strive to be one. Life is too wonderful a place to ever live in isolation.