Two swans tending to their eggs, one parent looking after the eggs directly, the other relaxing next to the nest, both apparently unrelated to each other as if strangers but I dare you to get near the eggs and see what happens.
Have you ever wondered how you think you are on your own, doing things on your own, without anyone’s help, living independently of others? Are you truly alone when you are existing in the world?
The other day I was listening to something related to how our brain works; and the various elements of our lives and one of the aspects the person was talking about was how despite our belief that we exist in a vacuum, we are truly social creatures. Even in the saddest of moments when we perhaps reject people around us because we hurt inside, the closeness of another human being just through their mere presence is enough to lift our moods, even if just by a little.
We consider ourselves solitary and independent, and yet we get our feedback of who we are from those around us. We say we succeeded in life on our own, through our hard work, and yet consider the books we read, the training we did, the courses we attended. Did someone else not write the books, written the courses, directed us in our path? Do you think you really live in a vacuum? Are we not joint working all the time? Do we sometimes feel hurt more by someone we care about purely because we perceive them in a certain light in our heads, a light that perhaps is not real, but imagined? Do we reject someone perhaps based on something someone from our past has said but our brain recognises as a threat? Do you not think that perhaps the threat response is activated without your conscious awareness?
Sometimes my clients reject the support on offer based on their previous experiences, or even because what I offer does not match their internal view of what the help is about. Sometimes the reject the help because they expect that I fix things for them, things that they alone are in charge of. Sometimes they reject the help because they say is not helping and yet they themselves do not know what they want the help to look like.
Human being are particular about that which they see as helpful or even input from others, for some reason we have this notion that we can make it on our own and yet we continue to depend on each other.
In the animal kingdom each member of the flock, or the pack, of the school of fish has a role to play, and they know that they survive because they are together. Somehow the modern human believes that their individuality is what makes them successful. But are we indeed a success on our own? Or do we become a success because all the others who have joined us in our quest?
As always join in the conversation in a comment, or journal your thoughts. We are ready to evolve, join us on the journey of discovery.
