Because, like breathing, it has just always been a part of our lives, we tend not to step back and take an appreciative look at the self. Here is an opportunity.
The self is the mental structure that provides us with a sense of being unique among all other people. I am me and you are you, and although in an abstract way we know that we are all “one,” our actual perceptual experience does not provide visceral proof. We “feel” separate, and that is that.
And we are supposed to feel separate; that is the main function of the self. It provided the very first opportunity in all of evolution to actually experience separate existence.
Think about it. We have the ability to watch our selves as if we are both marching in a parade while at the same instant standing on the curb watching us as we pass. Prior to the self there existed no such awareness of existence. (Other animals, and even plants, have awareness, but not like this.)
Therefore, while celebrating our unity with each other and with the rest of the universe, we may want to appreciate the sense of separateness that allows the incredible awareness that we enjoy every day: the self.
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