You may have heard the famous John Donne quote,
No man is an island.
And yet, another great poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, says this:
For the creator must be a world for himself and find everything in himself and in Nature to whom he has attached himself.
Can’t be an island. Must be a world. Huh.
Likely this seeming paradox is just another resolved with the call for balance between extremes, but nonetheless I am curious to hear other people’s thoughts on this matter– and particularly on the Rilke quote above. What does “being a world for yourself” mean to you, as a writer (or artist)?
Or better, perhaps: What do you do to find a happy medium between the extremes: between being connected with others, but being able to turn inward and find everything you need?
What’s the word?