I've been thinking a lot lately about individualism. In a world where it seems to be praised as being almost virtuous, I wonder whether or not it has served as being a vice.
In an attempt to separate ourselves from others, I think we have sadly gone to the extreme of alienation.
As people became more and more focused on "creating themselves," They pushed away the communities and social structures they felt were burdened to identify with somehow harnessing them from reaching their full potential. The problem is that in pushing ourselves away from these structures we lose meaning and become just another zombie the the vast sea of "others." Ironically, we find its the things we share..not the things that separate that give us meaning.
I use to think it was very pequilar when I noticed friends or couples who started to share the same mannerisms/ habits. At first I found this almost a mockery...why would someone allow themselves to "become" someone else...as if they were losing part of who they were. But the more I think about it the more I see it as a blessing. I no longer see it as "becoming someone else", but being knit with someone. As if the bond you are creating is beyond yourselves.
Its the things that we both have that give us meaning. That we both have similar experiences..that we both share our humanity.