Wellness Calendar: Friday 1 March
The self vs the no self
‘I use this word “I” and I don't know what it means. I don't know where it begins and ends. I don't even know what it's made of.’ Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr Y.
Would it be a useful wellness exercise to work out how you view your self? Here are some thoughts and questions to get the ball rolling…
Who are you? What makes you who you are? What are the essential qualities that separates you from others? When you think about yourself, what immediately springs to mind? What defines you as a unique individual? At what point might you stop becoming a ‘self’ – and start becoming something else? Say, a couple, a part of a family, a group, a member of a community? Or are you still yourself while being something else as well? Are you the same person you were 10 years ago?
In some Buddhist circles, there is a concept of no-self, which states that a self is nothing more than an illusion, and that nothing within us is permanent. Instead there is an idea of fluidity, of constant change. What do you think of this idea?