I AM BECAUSE WE ARE
"Concrete objects can pull free of the earth more easily than humans can escape humanity." - Marcus Aurelius
One of this week’s readings was about human contact and how we can’t be separate from humanity. I’ve come to believe that many of our neurotic behaviours and fears have something to do with wanting that attachment somehow. Be it through appreciation, attention, high opinion, physical contact, closeness etc. We want to be somebody to someone. Being that for ourselves is not enough. Even in our least vain pursuits we have service. We want to help, and service is an act of human exchange.
We are drawn to each other. We make sense with each other. The self is affirmed when it is among other selves, despite their separateness as individuals. That is the attachment of intelligent beings like ourselves - a complementary existance where each of us brings something different to the fore, for our mutual benefit. It is in our nature and our inherent history of survival to need each other.
I need people. Dealing with the emotions I've been ruminating in during this past year is great for the art I'm making, but there must be a limit. A threshold for sanity's sake. We need to talk to somebody willing to help us take the edge off and focus outward: Sharing and listening to get out of our own heads.
I do well in uplifting my friends with complements that build them up, but I have a way to go with being involved and showing deeper interest in their daily lives. That means paying attention and finding close proximity as far and as often as possible. Even when physical presence is not really an option, it’s always good to check in regularly with the people you love.
I have peers and potential collaborators too. Supporting their work and giving constructive feedback is vital for creating the creative environment that I need around me. But it's not only about me, it's about us serving each other. Contributing to the community we're a part of. There is no industry network to back the underground so we're all we have. I have my songwriting, somebody else has something else to add. Together we become something greater.
Over-isolation has a tendency to eventually show you who and what is important to you. I learnt this over the weekend when a couple of my friends turned up at my gate unannounced. I can’t describe what that 15 minute stop-by did for my spirit for the rest of that day. All I know is that it's a testament to what that closeness means to me. To what we mean to each other when it’s all said and done.
We need each other.
We need people.
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (A person is a person through other people). - Bantu Axiom
Well said. Social interaction is what makes us human. Let us revive the old school way of internactions and show up for each other. It may save our walking bodies and dying souls.