Our entire existence is a relationship.
We exist as biological beings because we are in constant exchange with the ecosystem around us. We exist as individuals because we are recognized, nurtured, and supported in our being by a relationship.
Independence, whatever one might mean by this word, does not exist. There is no independence of thought, because thought is always thinking about something that exists, something that is given to us and is separate from us. There is no independence of judgment, because judgment is always judgment about something that exists, based on categories and values that have been given and instilled in us. Even if some people believe that by freeing themselves from judgments learned from their cultural and social context they have become independent, in reality, they still depend on judgments and categories learned elsewhere: they are not independent, they have simply changed their dependency.
Independence is impossible, both physically, conceptually, and morally. Beware of those who tell you that you must be independent; they are probably only trying, consciously or unconsciously, to make you dependent on them.
Instead, trust those who encourage you to recognize the intrinsic connections that bind you to everything at every level, and to understand whether you wish to depend on these connections or whether it would be better to entrust yourself to others.
