Existential experience infers human awareness of the self and of
otherness. It calls for a recognition of each man as existing singularly
in-his-situation and struggling and striving with his fellows for
survival and becoming, for confirmation of his existence and
understanding of its meaning.
Martin Buber, philosophical anthropologist and rabbi, expressed artfully
this uniqueness, struggle, and potential of each man. He said:
"Sent forth from the natural domain of species into the hazard
of the solitary category, [man] surrounded by the air of a
chaos which came into being with him, secretly and bashfully he
watches for a Yes which allows him to be and which can come to
him only from one human person to another."[1]
With such uniqueness of each human being as a given, an assumed fact,
only each person can describe or choose the evolvement of the project
which is himself-in-his situation. This awesome and lonely human
capacity for choice and novel evolvement presents both hope and fear as
regards the unfolding of human "moreness." Uniqueness is a universal
capacity of the human species. So, "all-at-once," while each man is
unique; paradoxically, he is also like his fellows. His very uniqueness
is a characteristic of his commonality with all other men.
Authenticity--Experiencing
In humanistic nursing existential awareness calls for an authenticity
with one's self. As a visionary aim, such authenticity,
self-in-touchness, is more than what usually is termed intellectual
awareness. Auditory, olfactory, oral, visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and
visceral responses are involved and each can convey unique meaning to
man's consciousness. In-touchness with these sensations and our
responses informs us about our quality of being, our thereness, our
degree of presence with others. The kind of "between" we live with
others depends on both our degree of awareness and the meaning we
attribute to this awareness. This awareness, reflected on, sometimes
shared with a responsible other for reality testing, offers us
opportunity for broadening our meaning base, for becoming more--more in
accord with our potential for humanness.
Perhaps a statement made by Dr. Gene Phillips, professor of education at
Boston University, will clarify the importance I attach to each nurse
becoming as much as she can be. He said, "The more mature we are the
less it is necessary for us to exclude." Presently I would paraphrase
this statement {5} and say, the more of ourselves we do not have to
exclude, the more of the other we can be open to. Our self-awareness,
in-touchness, self-acceptance, actualization of our potential allows us
to share with others so they can become in relationship with us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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