Mallory (the young artist) to Roark in The Fountainhead: “Don’t help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don’t work for my happiness, my brothers—show me yours—show me that it is possible—show me your achievement—and the knowledge will give me the courage for mine.”
This is a really interesting/sticky point with Rand’s philosophy vis-à-vis the attitude of most spiritual seekers these days. When we evolve from being (perhaps) too focused on getting what we want in life, we (at least I had this issue) tend to then go too far the other way and make it *all* about service. It isn’t *all* about service.
And, Rand, in her typical fashion, goes to the absolute limit of the logic of the fact that we MUST take care of ourselves first if we want to truly help others and tells us, “Don’t help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don’t work for my happiness, my brothers—show me yours—show me that it is possible—show me your achievement—and the knowledge will give me the courage for mine.”
I like to think of it like we go thru 3 stages: 1. Unconscious selfishness (it’s ALL about you); 2. Wacky Selflessness (It’s “never” about you... or so we’d like to think); 3. Conscious Selfishness (as I express myself, follow my bliss, live my greatest life, I *naturally* give myself to the world but that wasn’t necessarily my starting point (Rand would say it definitely *shouldn’t* be).
Make sense?
All this reminds me of Abraham Maslow and Marianne Williamson.
First, Maslow. He says: “The dichotomy between selfishness and unselfishness disappears altogether in healthy people because in principle every act is both selfish and unselfish.”
“Duty cannot be contrasted with pleasure nor work with play when duty is pleasure, when work is play, and people doing their duty are simultaneously seeking pleasure and being happy.”
“If the most socially identified people are themselves the most individualistic people, of what use is it to retain the polarity? If the most mature are also the most childlike? And if the most ethical and moral people are also the lustiest and most animal?”
And, now Williamson. Although Marianne Williamson is a near polar opposite of Rand in many (almost all? :) ways, both she and Rand would agree that “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same...”
So, how about you? Are you spending too much time helping others and serving others but not truly serving yourself?
Life is certainly about service, but let’s never forget that the greatest service we can ever give the world and the people we love is our own happiness… our own actualization!
Let’s shine today, shall we?
And gotta love the full quote from Marianne, eh? “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
[Note: This is often, and mistakenly, believed to be from Nelson Mandela’s inauguration speech. It’s not. It’s from Williamson’s book, A Return to Love (page 191 if you don’t believe me. :) ]
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