I am a Rock. I am a Continent

Simon and Garfunkel sang a song called “I am an island.” Part of that song goes:

I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock, I am an island
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries.

It’s a good song, but lately I’ve felt that John Donne (Meditation XVII; English clergyman & poet (1572-1631)) had it better.

No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

For the most part I think I am a rock in my life. But I am by no means an island. I am not a solitary creature. I do not think any human is. We all need people. We are not meant to be alone. That is why we come to this world as part of a family. That is why we develop friendships. I’m sure there are psychologists out there who have a name for it. But the short answer is that we need people. We need that interaction with other humans. We need to hear their voices, see their faces, feel their touch. We need the other part of us that the rest of humanity is.