Independent Dependent

     How long could you last without communicating with anyone? Not including people like cashiers or food delivery people; I mean family, friends and acquaintances. A week? Maybe less? How long would it take before you felt lonely? At what point would you start talking to your pets? How long before you start talking to yourself?

     I wager it takes most people a few hours before they try to make contact with someone in some way. Even in this time when individuality is strongly promoted, people seek companionship. People are taught to look out for themselves, and to be cutthroat in their approach to life to achieve whatever theory of success they adopted. There is one big problem with this though: the achievement of success in these theories is based on the approval of others who share the ideals of that theory. You can see this when someone tells someone else about their achievement. If the other person doesn't show support, admiration or jealousy in one way or another, the person who achieved something may become upset, or they may feel as though they have not achieved enough. Interaction with others is unavoidable when you lead a lifestyle based around certain ideals, so the individual must join a group in order to gauge their level of success.

      Throughout all this though, people still attempt to claim complete individuality. You may here people claim "I don't need anyone," or "I'm fine all by myself." These claims are usually presented to  someone else in an attempt to show individual strength, but why show someone you have individual strength? If you really did, would you not just say this to yourself and be satisfied with your inner approval? The need to tell someone these things indicates the need for approval of your statement, which doesn't fit with complete individuality. It is my opinion that complete individuality is something which is exclusive to hermits living off the land with no contact with the outside world. Apart from that I don't see other situations where complete individuality is achieved.

      Now, this doesn't mean I am promoting a completely social life. Though social interaction is difficult to truly avoid, a life which revolves around social interaction does not seem like a positive option. This can create a dependence on others, and a complete loss of individuality. People who live completely social lives already exist, and from what I've seen the results seem quite harmful. There is an extreme anxiety you can see in people which being alone causes in someone who is dependent on others for enjoyment. I've seen angry outbursts and depression as results. Neither extreme indiduality, nor extreme social interactions seem like good choices. Instead of having a one dimensional perspective of individuality, in which you are completely self sufficient, or a lifestyle dependent on others, consider finding a balance.

      We should find peace in solitude, and be able to grow by ourselves as individuals, but also accept the positive outcomes of social interaction. I believe myself to be a fairly reclusive person, but I have realized that sometimes the next step in my individual progress as a person can come from interacting with someone. The interaction itself isn't necessarily positive every time, but the outcome can be. I've dealt with very negative people in the past and as an outcome I've seen traits I never wish to replicate. Many of these interactions are the subjects to the posts I write. See, they can even fuel creativity at times.

      I'll end it here cause I feel this post might be getting too soul-searchy as Finn the Human would say. It's great to learn to be alone, but some company doesn't hurt every now and then.

- Dennis