Self

I think that there is merit in the idea that one’s “Self” is created through interacting with people around you throughout one’s life. How other people view you can also define or add to how you view yourself. This can obviously have a negative or positive effect on the “Self”, such as measuring of self worth, esteem, uniqueness, etc.

But then I wonder; if the interactions of people around you, and their view of “You” is the only thing that is going into how you view yourself. If you take SO much from other people, look to them and their views to be able to form one’s “Self”, then, you become something else than your true “Self”, in a sense. You are made up of OTHER people’s views of “You” and not the way you may/might see it.

Then I think that there are in fact two “Selves”. The one that you hold, the way you see yourself, and, the one which other people around you hold to be true, through their interactions with you.


I think our “Self” is not totally our body. To roughly quote Hideaki Anno, parts that make up the “Self” are things like our clothes, shoes, bedrooms, and cars, but there’s got to be some mental aspect of the “Self” that takes things like clothes and cars and processes it to further produce the mental image or symbol of yourself, that one might create in one's mind.

I am a pessimist and therefore I do believe in the depressing fact that everyone dies alone. I also believe that people exist alone. Sometimes I’ll have thoughts that lead to these things when I’m spending time with my boyfriend. It’s depressing to think that even though one shares intimate moments or spends time with another, and doesn’t feel alone, and is comforted by the company of another human being, as soon as they leave the room, or fall asleep, you are left alone in that instant. Just you and your own thoughts, and then you loose that feeling of “oneness”. “Every man is an island”.

Comedian Chris Rock stated once that you’ll never find a “soul mate”, even though everyone looks for one, or thinks they have one; that there is no such thing as a soul mate. All you’ll ever get is a mate. Just a mate. Someone to spend time with who you feel attracted to. One who erases the feeling of loneliness, to fulfill the need for physical and mental contact. Then I think that by saying this, I make it sound like everyone just uses everyone else to fulfill these things, and it’s true but not true. I think we DO use other people to not feel alone and escape the solitude of one’s mind/existence but I think we mostly do it unconsciously and without another sinister or diffident purpose.