LEARNING TO BE

Sir, - Gladdened by Brendan Glacken's reference to the quest for"identity" and the importance of learning "simply to be" (Times Square,March 11th), I burst into a few bars from a song of yesteryear whichhas the punch-line, "Ain't you glad you're you!"

It seems to me that we should constantly sharpen our awareness ofwhat might be termed the labelless, unlabelable "I" in our humanmake-up.

A veritable maelstrom of conditionings swirls daily around our "I",jerking us about like puppets on a string and sometimes transforming usinto a multi-coloured "Me" which identifies with mere labels (tags ofsuccess, failure, occupation, titles, etc.).

This programmed, structured "self" focuses on a sort of ticketed,fragmented reality, unlike the unadulterated "I" whose simple gazeeffortlessly absorbs the wonder of naked being. - Yours, etc.,

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Father PAT DEIGHAN,

Beach Park,

Laytown,

Co Meath.