I think a lot of what we do in life needs to be thought about from moment to moment. There are many things that have been drummed into me since I was a little girl and they have caused me no end of stress and anxiety.
What to say, what to wear and how to act are foremost to this.
I need to break down the barriers of learned behavior and really scratch at the reasons why we do things. So without further ado, let us talk about Co-operation.
Co-operation
Co-operation is simply working together right? But it also falls in line with conformation and accepting either a leading role or a following role.
So when you co-operate you need to recognize that you are at least in part, giving away a part of your individuality in order to fit in to a group. Sometimes a group is formulated strongly around a central figure that gets to be themselves, but usually even the leaders are not completely themselves in a group. Even the leader has to modulate themselves for the configuration of the leadership role.
Is working in groups then a natural thing? Or is it merely an adaptation to circumstance in order to live amongst others?
The LGBT community is one that have recently in the last 100 years seen rapid transformation from being forced to modulate themselves and hide to... well... coming out! This movement can only be described as a "burst" of activity. It is an explosion, a release of pressure that is the counter for years of oppression. I am sure that at least some of the things that they are doing is going overboard.
This is a result of conformation outside of the individual.
The LGBT community has expanded so rapidly that they are already placing their own members into pressure of conformation.
Back to the task at hand - Co-operation.
It is a dialogue in which mutual gain is achieved. It is a platform into which we can aspire to achieve something together. This is a good thing.
I think that it is important to understand that we do not stop being ourselves when we co-operate. Also that others do not stop having their own ideas when they co-operate. It is merely a position that one takes when they wish to buy in on a group activity - temporarily!
The Balance
When a person exists I believe that the individual and the self is the most important component of themselves. Without this component then as people, they are little more than brainwashed machines. You might as well lobotomize them.
At the same time, making demands constantly because your individuality will mean that you will end up making yourself an outsider to all groups.
Halfway between these points lies an uneasy balance. We need groups and leaders to get things done as a collective, but we should never lose our identities to them.
We need to understand that we can never allow just one group to become our whole identity because it will consume us and use us to fit into an agenda that is not true to our individual selves. We need to understand that becoming a social pariah is also just the easy way out and that becoming a hermit does nothing to solve these issues.