Mutual
Good
“But
I believe there is a new, evolving relationship between personal
creativity and social responsibility, as old modernist patterns of
alienation and confrontation give way to new ones of mutualism and
the development of an active and practical dialogue with the
environment.”
Suzi
Gablik (The Reenchantment of Art)
The
commandment above the gate of the temple at Delphi reads, “Know
Thyself.” The ancient Greeks embraced a philosophy of individual
development of mind, body and spirit, but it was done in service to
the greater good. They seem to have had no language for individualism
in the sense that we understand it today. That change began in the Age
of Enlightenment (15th-16th century) with
Descartes. The discoveries of scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo,
Kepler and Newton, brought a new day of human achievement. These men
applied reason to human nature to suggest that there were natural
rights to liberty, equality, and property. Since then, our belief in
the inalienable rights of the individual have held sway, growing
stronger with every century.
Human
social interaction is a pendulum of sorts—it swings through a long
arc of slow but steady change to its furthermost point of range.
Culture, philosophy, and values change steadily along that route. And
then, it swings back, bringing with it elements of that change. We
have gone just about as far as we can go with rugged individualism.
We have passed beyond the point of strength in personal development,
and reached the extreme of individual entitlement. The pendulum is
beginning its journey back toward the center.
We
humans don't typically welcome change; in fact, we fight tooth and
nail to keep it from affecting us. We usually require a brutal personal
experience of the necessity of change, before we gradually, often
grudgingly, fall in line. Tolkien brilliantly portrayed this in
his Lord of the Rings novels. I remember a scene in which the Hobbit, Meriadoc Brandybuck, asked, in the midst of the long, dark,
treacherous journey to Mordor, “But, what about breakfast? What
about second breakfast? What about third breakfast?” We don't give
up our expectations easily.
But
change has begun. Our pendulum is swinging in the direction of
awareness that we don't have to go it alone in order to prove our
worthiness. We can, in fact we must, recognize our interdependence. Each of
us has a role to play in what will of necessity be a team effort, and
that role is critical for the health of all life on this planet. This
change will be painful to some, but essential to all. Let us begin to
contemplate, with excitement, what part we will play in this new
social order. Who will be your teammates?
In
the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment