No Man Is An Island

'No man is an island' is the title and line from a poem by John Donne, yet the words were originally from a piece of prose and were written as thus:

'No man is an iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine;'

I knew the line, as we all probably do but had no idea where it came from until this morning. The last few days I have had a thought for a post bobbling around inside my head and as is normally the case, something triggers the next stage and then the time is right to expand the thought and see where it goes. Occasionally it might even make sense but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I had been thinking about how we can all be better by being part of something and that the connections we have with others are what we need to become more than that which we are. The way I was exploring this, in the first instance, was how comedy actors come across as being funny when 'bouncing' off others. This then moved to how we have inspiration that manifests due to the input from elsewhere.

Do I need to qualify the above ? or does it make sense on its own ? OK, briefly or I'll lose my

thread. Comedy double acts. Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Morecombe and Wise are a few of the well-known ones and for this post you could throw in Chandler and Joey from Friends. They are all funny in their own right but the real 'unforgettableness' comes from when they are playing off each other. I know that there are exceptions, those who are just always going to be funny solo, or as part of something but in their own right.

This has a few layers but I'll go with a couple. I was thinking about 'quotes' and how is it that some people just manage to come out with the most profound thoughts. A couple of lines that make you stop and think. How do they do that ? Do they just find themselves a quiet place and wait until the next great idea pops into their head ? I'm not sure they do. I think it's more likely that it's a result of some form of interaction with another or others.

Both Keishalina9 and HeidiAnders3 have produced posts this morning that have added to my own process. The links to their posts are highlighted.

(Thank you, by the way) Without reading their work, I'm not sure I would have written this.

Going back to quotes. Below is part of a reply I gave when I was commenting on a post. The first sentence is more of a memory of something I read once.

'No one will expect more from us than we do of ourselves. This is not the 'norm' but the exception, in my opinion. This exception is reserved for the 'exceptional' and you have to believe that is to be true of yourself.'

Now, I'm not saying that it's profound or life changing but it is a direct result of the interaction with another. It would not exist, were it not for the 'post' I read and the comments that were left.

Never underestimate the power and influence someone else's work can have on your own.

I feel that we are in a unique environment here at WA and should soak up the vast wealth of knowledge, experience and insight of those around us.