Know Thyself

"What constitutes the freedom, the soul of an individual life, is its uniqueness. The reflection of the universe in someone's consciousness is the foundation of his or her power, but life only becomes happiness, is only endowed with freedom and meaning when someone exists as a whole world that has never been repeated in all of eternity. Only then can they experience the joy of freedom and kindness, finding in others what they have already found in themselves." (Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate)
 

"We only become what we are by the radical and deep-seated refusal of that which others have made of us." (Jean-Paul Sartre)
 

"Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life." (Herbert Otto)
 

"He soon realized that he was not overly intelligent so much as overly sensitive.  The impressions of life, filled both his mind and emotions to unimaginable depths, overflowing with thoughts and sensations each analyzed and explored over and over again.  The problem was in organizing such data into a meaningful philosophy.  The catastrophism of the world re-created an equal and frustrating chaos internally. But at grasping at these millions of impressions he began to glimpse the truth that, unlike others, living, for him was a complex and wholly different experience from the majority of humanity.  By understanding this contrast he could at last free himself from the contraints of the social normative and finally be, of all things, unique"

The difficulty of originality is in creating a new language of definition.  Instinctively we measure ourselves by the standards (of behavior, character, morality, etc.) of society that we know and too often try to fit ourseves into.  Well that doesn't work too well does it?  At least not for the thoughtful individualist. 

We have then the opportunity of creating an entirely new existence, simply by choosing different words with which we may define and express it. The words we use have infinite power in this way . . . more on that in another post.