Idea-Individual

"We can help one another find out the meaning of life, no doubt. But in the last analysis the individual person is responsible for living his own life and for "finding himself." If he persists in shifting the responsibility to somebody else, he fails to find out the meaning of his own existence" 

"We cannot find ourselves within ourselves, but only in others, yet at the same time before we can go out to others we must first find ourselves. We must forget ourselves in order to become truly conscious of who we are. The best way to love ourselves is to love others, yet we cannot love others unless we love ourselves..."

(source: Merton, Thomas. No Man Is an Island. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1955. Print.)

"...Any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

(source: Doone, John. No Man Is An Island. 1600)


Annotated bibliography:
Merton, Thomas. No Man Is an Island. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1955. Print. 

Thomas Merton provides his reflections on finding our own spiritual selves. He focuses on

finding meaning within oneself through mental awareness and connections with others. Merton

guides readers on how to live a more spiritually full  life and addresses concepts like love, identity, and inward solitude.

Hiroshi Sugimoto, 'Ionian Sea Santa Cesarea, 1990

Hiroshi Sugimoto, 'Agean Sea, Pilion' 1990, 1194x1492 cm Gelatin Silver Print

       This book, and the idea of living as an individual, have greatly influenced my concept. "no man is an island" is a concept that I am mentally struggling to find truth in and it helps to hear things that apply to my own life. Being an individual is something I have little experience in because I feel permanently mentally connected to my identical twin, and feel as though it would be impossible for me to see myself as a single being, independent of my surroundings and her influence. This is exactly what I intend to explore with my next body of work.