interdependence

I thought it was interesting that Judith Butler strongly emphasized a person’s concept of “self” as being connected to different relationships that are cultivated.  This is why I found Butler’s text the most accessible of the theoretical texts that we have read thus far.  I have found that most of my relationships have played a huge role in defining and discovering who I am as a person.  There are many people who would argue that too much interdependence can be dangerous. That being independent is the only way to move forward in life. 

One of my favorite singers, Sara Bareilles, recently released an album called The Blessed Unrest and one of the tracks is called “Islands.”  Whenever I listened to this song, I interpreted the message to mean that human beings are all islands and that becoming dependent on one another is dangerous and problematic.  Today I went back and listened to this song with Judith Butler and interdependence in mind.  To me, the song seems to have a different meaning now.  I think the message could be interpreted as a call to humans, or islands, to become more dependent on other islands to survive.  It seems that every time I listen to this sing it means something else but right now it feels like a call social dependence as a means of creating a “self.”      

Here is a link to listen to the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPOhGIpZjKU