In Common
Image by Tu-2
The day is opening - it may allow for sun this day and the temperature sits at 54 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Friday.
What do we all have in common? This is a question that sounds simple; but it is not. Where does your mind go when you see this query? Does it go to the simplest thing: breath? Or does it go to things that often are used to define "us" - like race, religion, gender, gender identity, politics, national identity, etc? And of course once we go with an "us" definition, there has to be a "them". Then we are headed for trouble.
The question is really an invitation to consider yourself and your life. Where is it that you feel whole? Remembering we are organic beings who are here by an evolutionary process that took, literally - billions of years. And while human beings have done an incredible job in creating worlds that have brought many conveniences, we have also created a world that is bringing many complexities that will have to be navigated. We are all dancing and swirling in a universe that is also itself, dancing and swirling through space and time.
The every day issues of living/dying/developing/changing - these will always be a part of the human experience. Where all this energy leads us depends on how we define and choose. How do you define "self" – individual, family, community, society? How do you choose to live - for yourself, for only your biological family, for only your community that you feel is yours? How do you decide what option to take when you face choices about when to gather, when to share, when to be loud and speak, and when to be silent. Are you choosing based on your own interests, whatever those may be or, are you choosing paths that can hold many interests and even sacrifice for others now and then?
These are questions that may seem irrelevant to the practical reality of living life each day; but they are, in fact, very critical to raise to conscious consideration now. The world is spinning into deep conflicts that reflect how humanity is answering these questions - without thought. When do you lift your awareness from self to others, and ultimately back to self again (because you and others are, in fact one).
In a recent conversation with old friends, the question was asked, "What do I do with the anger, and feeling of betrayal I am left with after learning this story?" The story was about the Osage people and the effort to destroy their existence through manipulation using law, government apparatus, and deception by otherwise "good" and "respectable" community members. This is a question that many people have in common.
The response among us: we realize a truth that has been hidden, we find one another to go deeper into the story, we honor the spirit of those who sacrificed, we realize that today we have to respond to exactly the same kinds of events in a new space and time. We do what we can to bring humanity back from the edge by looking at what we have the chance to do in our everyday lives. Control is a fantasy.