Said the castle made of sand:
"I am an individual, and I am distinct and independent from the beach on which I live"
Said the human to the sandcastle:
"Good sir, that is absurd. You are merely a shape crafted out of the beach you live on, made from the beach's own sand.
You are dependent on the beach and merely an aggregate of it's grains. Nothing about you is unique or independent,
and all of your grains could be exchanged with the piles of sand anywhere else on the beach with no discernable difference."
Said the sandcastle to the human:
"And what would you know? You are merely a shape crafted out of the nature you live in, made from nature's own chemistry.
You are dependent on nature and merely an aggregate of its cells. Nothing about you is unique or independent,
and all of your chemicals could be exchanged with the piles of chemistry anywhere else in nature with no discernable difference."
Compared to most people, I suspect I have a 'fuzzier' concept of individual lives. I mostly think of lives as shapes drawn into living nature, little swirls and eddies of chemicals substantively identical the environment around them. However I show respect to the whole of nature by cherishing the parts, which are things like you and me, and my fluffy dog, and that tree down the street.