Leaves of Grass

The Russians have a proverb that the tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut. Still, it is in our nature to grow. The sun and its warm light draws on. We strive to stand apart from the other blades of grass, all the while knowing that by doing so we risk our very existence.

One American writer who symbolized self growth was Walt Whitman. His Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855, represents a new realism in American literature and a celebration of the self. For example in Songs of  Myself, Whitman expresses the thought, “In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less/and the good or bad I say of myself  I say of them.”

We are one, and yet, we are but one. This paradox expresses the thought that we are a part of the whole, the multitude and the cosmos, and yet, we are still individuals striving for self-expression.“It is you talking just as much as myself…I act as the tongue of you.”

This same idea runs through all our relationships - parents, friends and even acquaintances. It is thus better to recognize that these relationships should be positive and constructive rather than the reverse.