"The Myth Of Self"

The second in a series of seven

Fifty-odd years.
It’s not even a wink in the “eye of time”.
But, perhaps, enough time to observe some small, subtle changes.

Now, I’m not going to pretend to be naive about it. There has never been an acceptance of individuality in our culture, or most cultures for that matter.
Yes, we have paid lip service to “the myth of self”. To those rugged individualists, who, stood up for what they believed in. Fought the good fight, regardless the consequences. And, we lionize the “outsider”, the slightly dangerous, the bad boys in our popular culture.
But... in the realm of our individual lives, our concern becomes  more of  our immediate circle, our place in that circle and how best to maintain it. Individuals, outsiders and the bad boys do not factor well into the orderly shape of a circle.
It’s true. We’re all subject to the pressures of our peers. With our “myth of self”, most of us are uncomfortable with that “truth”, but none-the-less, it is what it is. It’s necessary for the orderly operation of a society.
Isn’t it?
Is our social fabric so fragile? Does it’s very survival really depend on an ordered conformity? The subtle and not so subtle repression of that which is different?

Being a student of the “human experience”, I like to imagine I’m keenly aware of what’s going on here.
Evolution, the social just as with the biological, is always in a constant state of flux.
Sudden and often radical alterations of the environment can  result in the appearance of mutations. Now, most mutations don’t survive for long. Some are of little consequence. Some even threaten the survival of the organism. However, occasionally, a mutation will come along that is positive, an improvement in some way. If the organism is able to incorporate the change, it becomes stronger because of it.
I think you can see where I’m going with this.
“Social evolution” follows a similar track. Environmental changes... conflict/peace, poverty/prosperity, geographic/cultural differences, disease and natural disasters. All can result in “mutations”, those individuals who are just a little different from the rest of us. They may have a slightly different take on things than you do. They see problems and answers where you may not. They may provoke or inspire you to thoughts you may have overlooked. Sometimes, they can posit an idea that is truly exceptional, unique , an “ah-ha” moment if you will.
Conversely, they may present ideas that represent a clear and present danger to all of us.
Or... they may just fizzle and disappear, ignored by the “normal” squeezed aside by the pressures to conform.

More recently, these “mutations”, these agents of change have come to be known as the “creative class”.  The truth of course is that, whatever they’ve been called’, they have always been a part of the “human experience”, beginning with day one.
Civilization as we know it is largely a product of their efforts.

I submit that it is only normal that a society will inevitably attempt to resist the “threat” posed by the influences of such individuals. Furthermore, I submit that this resistance in itself, in all likelihood, is as equally essential to it’s continued survival.

May I humbly suggest, however, that we offer, if nothing else, a bit of tolerance for those who are different. For all you know they may just be that rare and wonderful “mutation” that will make us all stronger.



I leave you with two of my favorite quotations on this subject:

“To be one’s self, and unafraid whether right or wrong, is more admirable than the easy cowardice of surrender to authority”.  
Irving Wallace

And, from Margaret C. Patton, my teacher, mentor and my life-long inspiration,
read from her card to me congratulating me upon graduating from high school:

“May you never belong to that strange race of people spending their lives doing work they detest, to make money they don’t want, to buy things they don’t need in order to impress people they dislike”. “A Frenchman said it, but it packs a world of wisdom in a few words”.

It did, and it does. This little card still rests on a shelf in my library by my chair to this day!