We can't want something for someone more than they want it for themselves.
We can't love someone more than they love themselves. I mean, of course we can, but it is a long, tough road. There is a parable about a bee and a fly-where some see a fly, others see a bee, and the reverse is also true. The bee is productive, pollinating, bringing forth life. The fly is constantly attracted to and flying around excrement. But if we see a bee, and the bee sees itself as a fly, it does not stop to redirect itself.
We cannot want something more for the fly than the fly wants for itself. This example can, of course, also be applied to ourselves. Mark Manders's long-term project, Self-Portrait as a Building (1986-ongoing), addresses simultaneity, self and other, time and timelessness, and every other philosophical and self-knowledge topic in some way. The project, as well as the artist, is genius.
Manders is expressing himself exactly as he sees himself.
Beauty is individual, diverse, and personal. And while there are some broad-based common definitions, one person arguing loudly can persuade or dissuade many others, but to what avail?
Regardless of those who may want something else for us, we are meant to be exactly who we are, an expression of our uniqueness across a lifelong journey of discovery.
