Each human holds a distinct and unwaverable value and contribution to the wholeness of society. In other words, you matter.
If we were to zoom out and look at each person’s role within the collective, mapping out the impact that they have had, we would see a massive interconnected web. We each create our own ripples, but it’s hard to notice in the sea of global society, despite it always being there.
The challenge is, from a young age our values and contributions are often overlooked for someone else’s projected preferences. We are told that we are wrong because we are not the same as someone else, or do not do the same thing as someone else.
SAME or SAFE?
As humans, we get so stuck in this polarizing paradigm where likeness and difference are equated to safe or unsafe. That is because unconsciously anything that we have experienced and survived is deemed safe, so we look for similar experiences and attributes to ensure that we are safe, because it is familiar and known. Anything different is unknown, therefore unsafe.
As a society, this creates labels, categories, and cliques. Dividing us up even further.
Imagine trying to divide up an ocean. You can do it mentally on a map, sure, but to do it in real life would be absurd and impossible. Yet, we mentally create divisions in the ocean, just as we do with other humans. Trying to draw lines in the water, when we are all made of the same elements, encompassing the same space collectively. Labeling an individual drop of water in the ocean as left, and another as right.
That’s what happens when we allow our own personal experiences and familiarities to categorize all similar things as safe. Instead, we must recognize and appreciate each individual’s contributions to the whole, looking at differences as a blessing and curiosity- a new wonder to discover.
Where do you find yourself creating division in your life based on sameness and how can you zoom out more to recognize the individual contributions each person brings to the collective?