Persons

 It may seem crass to ask, but why do people matter? Is a person valuable in and of herself or is she only valuable as long as she is useful?

Today I went to an exhibition at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography, see here. The exhibition was a series of 21 photographs of people with Downs-syndrome, all kinds of people set against a beautiful background. Although it was the people that really shone. The artist, Sigga Ella, was inspired to begin this project after hearing a discussion on the ethics of aborting a foetus once it becomes clear that there is something 'wrong'. For example, Downs-syndrome.

The pictures I saw today were beautiful, truly. There was a great breadth and depth of people shown. When you look at people that are dissimilar to the extent that you feel no compassion, 'why do they matter?', try thinking instead 'Who am I? Why do I matter?'

Well, why do you matter?
Is it maybe because you care about yourself? Because you care about others and others care about you? Is it because you do something important? But important to whom?

Lots of questions, so many...
If you matter, why doesn't someone else matter?