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Taking his reader on a journey into the nature of human relationships in his slim volume, Individuality and Encounter, Clark Moustakas leads one to an encounter with the particular individuality of Moustakas himself. He divides his book into sections having to do with individuality, identity, loneliness, solitude, sensitivity, encounter and “heuristic research.” Moustakas does not write about his thoughts and feelings. Rather he writes as though impressing them upon the page, so that we can then view them and see for ourselves what this man is. He succeeds in large measure, avoiding the pitfall he refers to: “The identity of a person is not a thing to be analyzed and explained, but a substance to be sensed, and a process to be felt in its ever-changing expression.” There is, however, always an inherent error in any form of creative expression which is true of all who will share their creations with others. They must continue their work past the moment of original inspiration; that moment serves only as a catalyst which, sets into motion the process of the sharing of one with another.
Moustakas believes that authenticity springs from a greater and greater awareness, and that anything which comes between man's “self” and his experiencing of the world will dullen or deaden him. He speaks of the “conforming person whose primary mode of existence is rooted in others,” and who must learn what is required by others in order to maintain his position. But there is a “price” to be paid for this security. Here the author demonstrates his profound grasp of the process of objectification which turns people into “things.”
While developing a sense of compatibility with the direction of the author's thinking, this reviewer is somewhat jarred by the statement that “Spontaneity means losing one's self as a separate other, yet remaining absolutely related to the moment.” How does one lose oneself and yet remain related? It would seem that one must be completely found to himself in order