P52 Week 47 -- The Selfless Selfie

It’s inevitable: the selfie has permeated the world of artistic photography! The prompt for this week’s Project 52 directs photographers to take a selfless selfie – a shot about themselves that doesn’t include them or their children.

A selfie without myself – now that’s intriguing! Well, I am made of the stuff of the universe, so I could write about anything, and it would be about me, right? We – yes, you too – are no different from rocks or the sea or buildings or elephants. The whole universe is made up of atoms, elements such as carbon, calcium, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and iron. What differentiates me from a mouse or a mountain is how my atoms are structured. Many of the atoms are the same. It’s only their configuration and proportions that differ.

Ah, you might say: we humans are infused with spirit and that differentiates us from all else, for humans have a soul.

But does that mean that only humans have a soul? Many believe that their pet cats and dogs have souls. And what about other animals – tigers, dolphins, eagles?

What about plants? Do sequoias, dogwoods, roses, parsley, and carrots have souls?

Do other entities, non-organic entities, have souls? Do mountains, volcanoes, deserts, streams, waterfalls and oceans have souls?

And what about man made edifices – skyscrapers, factories, split-level houses, the Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel, Hondas, laptops?

Much is made of collective consciousness in psychological circles. A term used is that of a “collective soul.” Do countries – The United States of America, France, India, Australia – have a collective soul? Do organizations – Microsoft, McDonalds, Doctors Without Borders – have a collective soul?

We are all made of the same stuff, the stuff of the universe. Are we also infused with the same spirit? Does it permeate every living thing and every non-living thing? Is spirit exclusive – infusing just certain atoms and molecules – human ones – or is it inclusive, encompassing everything in existence?

It seems to me that I am the world and the world is in me. My boundaries don’t end with my skin.

Is that what the mystics mean when they say that “we are all one?”

Is the span of a selfless selfie the universe?