Things In Common

The world seems increasingly obsessed with diversity and what makes us all different. With identifying and recognising those things that separate us.

Spruiking buzzwords like inclusion and tolerance.

I find this a little misguided.

Tolerance, if nothing else, simply means putting up with those things you don’t like – not exactly an ideal virtue for one to aspire to.

I’m much more interested, not in the things that make us different, but in all those things we share in common.

In those things that make us all uniquely human.

Part of the same human family, sharing in the same human experience

In those fundamental truths we all have embedded deep within us that have proved undeniable across all cultures and across all time.

That we are all born and we all have to face death

That we all fundamentally just want to be loved

That we all need to live a life that is meaningful and purposeful

That we all need nourishment

To be able to raise our children

To feel safe and secure

That we all have our fears and insecurities

That fundamentally we all seem to recognise the virtues of Love, compassion, goodness and peace

That living in isolation, disconnected from others is not in our nature

That we all need to move, our bodies were made for it

That we came from nature, and long to be close to it in all its forms

That we all have built within us belief systems and structures – that drive how we behave and respond to the world around us.

I rarely speak of your human journey; I speak of THE human journey, because in the end, we are all in this together.

We all need the same things in order to nourish our bodies and our souls

We all long for the same things, whether we consciously know it or not.

This in inherent in your nature and in our collective nature

The human journey is really about reconnecting with these fundamental truths (among others) and reconciling our relationship with them.

So how about we stop looking for all the ways we are unique and somehow different and instead start looking for the threads that tie us all together.

#culture #nature #humannature