The Sheer Fascination of Doing It |
T.S. Fodi |
Every so often, I encounter an individual who is obviously not his or herself.
As children, we learned to communicate by parroting the words and speech patterns of our parents, our friends, the people we saw in tv and movies, and anyone else we encountered. Whenever we spoke, you could hear the influences. He got that from his dad, this from his mom, where did he hear that word?, etc.
As we grew closer to adulthood, most of us developed our own voice, in an effort to distinguish ourselves from our parents. The influences are still there if you listen, but they’re muted, sublimated by an individual’s personality.
However, occasionally, I encounter someone who is obviously still parroting, still using the words and speech patterns of those around them, without a hint of individuality.
Why are they still parroting? Do they not know who they are? Are they afraid to show who they are? Are they still looking for a defining aspect of their personalities in the patterns of those around them? Before a person can BE that person, must they find themselves in others? Or is it something we find inside ourselves?
Or am I mistaken; do I merely notice the patterns I use myself, echoed by those around me?
Why does this blog exist?
We are nothing without connections to the people around us. What happens if we achieve a state of pure connectedness, experiencing the lives of those around us as they happen? Will we differentiate ourselves as individuals? And if not, who will we connect with? Will we still need to connect to others? Will that need be satisfied? Is pure connectedness what that primal need is leading us toward?
Is the most horrible thing we can imagine a world in which we are no longer human and we’re happy about it?
This post is horribly disjointed and random, but it’s pulling the questions out of me that I need. I’m excited and terrified to try to answer them.
