“Humanity and the Meaning of Life - We’re in This Together”

When my friend Mark Philpott invited me to write a guest piece for his blog, I was immediately stoked.  He said something like, “You can write about anything having to do with humanity, the meaning of life...” How could I pass up THAT invitation?!   

Such a big, sweeping word it is.  Humanity. Humankind. The Human Species.   And what a wide-open topic:  The Meaning of LIFE.

For me these two things are definitely connected.  So many facets, so much stacked layer upon layer behind the ideas, and yet they come together like a hand in a glove for me.  The meaning of life?  Connecting to our common humanity. All of us.  The whole shooting match.  Being open to the rest of the something like 7 billion on the planet now. How do we do that?  One relationship at a time.  

The question is, do we, each of us, choose to embrace it, or reject it?  Stay engaged or walk away?  If you consider your own practice, and those you observe by people around you, it’s probably safe to say it’s a mix.  I suppose that’s natural.  For sure, everyone needs time to themselves sometimes.  Quiet time to reflect, recharge, we all benefit from this practice periodically.  

At the end of the day though, I believe it’s the relationships with other people that bring depth, learning, diversity, value, MEANING to each of our lives.  Spending time with people you love, and people you like, and people you don’t know well yet but might know better tomorrow...being open to the magical spark of a new friend, or that from an old friend, that’s a good maxim to live by.

You’ve no doubt heard it said about material things -- clothes, toys, houses, cars, you name it -- “you can’t take it with you.”  Another saying that might well be the other half of that idea is, “In the end all you’ll have that matters are the experiences you had in your life and your loved ones, and when you’re gone, your memory only lives in others.”

There’s a very practical side to this whole idea as well.  We all have our ups and downs.  There will always be those folks who have more than we do, and those that don’t have as much. It’s a continuum.  Each of us has been on both sides at some point, most likely.  After all, even Bill Gates has slipped from the top of the Wealthiest Person on Earth List (though I understand he just was named #1 again).

The key point here is that by connecting, understanding, appreciating others, we’re better off, on both sides.   She who reaches out to make the initial effort, and he who finds a fresh understanding in new friend’s eyes.  That is what matters, that is what is important, that is what is priceless.

There’s another angle to entice you to look at the people you meet every day, familiar and stranger alike, with a fresh perspective and twinkle in your eye:  the diversity of our humankind is ASTOUNDING.  The cultures, religions, politics, attitudes, experiences and perspectives that essentially make each of us who we are.  THAT should be embraced, rather than mocked or attacked due to ignorance or intolerance.  

We’re all the richer, each of us, by learning about another person, another perspective, another life experience.   Here’s an example.  Earlier this week I heard on the radio a story about a Cambodian-American artist named Bochan Huy, and her “musical mashup to share her music and bring the elders and youth of her community closer together”, as the reporter explained.  

I was quickly taken with her story, her approach, her motivation, and also intrigued by the music itself.  If I wasn’t open to new music, and a person’s story from a culture I know next to nothing about, I would have lost the opportunity to enjoy a musical genre I wasn’t even aware of.  And I learned a little more about one particular Asian ethnic group. The bonus? Later that day, I connected with Huy via Twitter.  Pretty cool.   And that connection added depth and value to my day, my life. Awesome.

[If you want to see/hear the piece from the radio:  http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2013/05/15/120854/oakland_performer_unites_cambodian_transplants_with_music?category=bay+area]

Consider this benefit also.  Fellowship with other people nurtures a depth of self, happiness of soul, and connectedness.  You never know where you’ll find it, so being open, ready, and willing is the key.  Giving people a chance to drop their guard, return a smile, make good on the common humanity we all share.   

Take that approach and your life will be better than you thought possible.  Take that approach and we might just have a ghost of a chance to reconnect our societies, and make this world a better place.  After all we’re in this together, and each of us can make a positive difference in others’ lives. Along the way, we’ll be better off too. That’s what it’s all about.