The Line

I wrote this a while ago, thought I'd bring it up:

It is very difficult to define ourselves. If there was nothing in the world besides ourselves we would have absolutely no identity. The concept of existence starts with the floor; the boundary which distinguishes ground from air, and up from down. The more elements that we add in our environment the more we are able to define who we are. When it comes to our personalities there is no exception. We only know ourselves because there are other humans around. We learn to define our personality by what we are not and by what people perceive us to be; much in the same way the floor determines what is grounded and what is not. On the other hand, while I cannot define myself without the presence of any environment, I am egocentric. The world I live in only exists because I am living. It is therefore rightly mine. I create how I view the world, myself, other people. I make decisions for myself and absolutely always choose ones that benefit me; because it's my life. Conflict arises with recognition that there are 6 billion other people in the world, who are also just as real as I am. The way of the world is to acknowledge these differences, not imposing the decisions which are best for me, on other people. In this way, I do “good” by trying to do no harm; by both worshiping and fearing the control that I have, I have become who I am.