THE PERSONAL IS SOCIAL

“The greatest gift you can give anyone is love.”

This familiar line from Abhijit Naskar, an author, is often perceived to be as our self-
proclaimed rationale in our pursuits of engaging in social relationships whether it may be
romantic or not. After all, as human beings, it is natural for us to provide the need of love and
belongingness in the community, as perceived by Abraham Maslow, and through the symbols
that we have made, we have provided for social interactions among individuals – effectively
providing for the “social” nature of the self.

As I am a social being who is also qualified by the “me” subjectification by Mead, I tend
to have certain inklings towards individuals through the weight of the symbolization that I have
assigned upon them as a product of our social interaction. Hence, I have come to have significant
others as a result of social interaction and the weight of significance that I have placed upon our
social interactions. Who, then, are my significant others?

The first significant other that I am going to cite isn’t necessary an individual, but rather a
collective group of whom I have had an intimate connection with – my family. From when I was
young, I have always grown up in a family-oriented direction such that we have always done our
activities of fun and leisure together: going to parks, swimming in the pool, enjoying the summer
breeze along the seashore, and even eating dinner together.

Most of my life and childhood development years – years that are vital to the
development of social relationships – have been centered on the sanctity of family life; hence,
providing for my family as the first and primary significant other that is separate from the self.

In addition, external to the comforts of the family social life, I may have the tendency to
provide for affection and intimate social interaction within my collective peers. For the purpose
of privacy, I am not going to cite the second significant other, but rather, I am going to describe
the reasons why I have perceived that person to be my significant other.
 This person has been with me through stressful and difficult times in school – an
environment external to the household. Whenever I seem to have the need for social
belongingness, this person has always been there to provide for this need. It is in such reasons
that this person has become a significant other – one that I will truly cherish even beyond the
corners of the school campus.

We all have our significant others as assigned through the symbols that we have assigned
upon them through social interaction. As social beings, it is, then, important to sustain the
equilibrium of social life that we have established with them and with more people so that we
may be able to truly uphold the values and the culture of social life that we have nourished
within ourselves. Always remember this: the personal is also social; that’s his curse; that’s his
gift.