Being human
This past weekend I, as usual, downloaded the edition of On Being with Krista Tippett which would air in my home area on Sunday morning, April 10, 2016. This week, Ms. Tippett was having a conversation with David Whyte, the poet, philosopher, and an Associate Fellow at Said Business School as well as consultant/advisor to corporation employees.
His powerful poems soothe, challenge, and sometimes tickle one. His philosophical musings shake up the mind, evoking new questions or perhaps a new awareness of age old questions.
One of the quintessential questions concerns the essence of we humans. What is the essence of our humanness? What differentiates we humans from other parts of creation? Mr. Whyte suggests, “Well, one of the interesting qualities of being human is, by the look of it, we’re the only part of creation that can actually refuse to be ourselves.”
I find this a very basic, simple and fascinating thesis. Leaving aside, for a moment, the question of whether that is the only quality or characteristic or even the primary quality which distinguishes us from the rest of creation, what does it mean to refuse to be ourselves? Certainly we can refuse to own many of our instincts, emotions, thoughts or desires. Those of us who have committed ourselves to a spiritual journey of self-examination have come to accept that honesty, first with oneself, about oneself, is an essential part of this journey. It is a journey which one never completes. Whether the truth is as simple as denying that we hate some habit of our partner or think that their new haircut looks stupid, that we did indeed look at this other person as a sexual object, that we are more fluid in our sexual desires than is comfortable for us, that we are a socialist who wants to be wealthy, or despite one’s pacifism, loves the fact that the “good people” in the new Star Wars movie won by very violent means, we may avoid being honest with ourselves or others.
We run from pain whether its etiology, emotional, or physical. We run from the fact that we are not always kind, cruel, loving, hateful, vulnerable, strong, or devious. The fear of being ourselves – the fear of being less than or more than (what might others expect of us) – leads us to deny, often even to ourselves, our best and worst characteristics or qualities.
Of course, the curious fact is that we are all basically the same. Although some of us might be more able to accept some parts of ourselves we avoid other parts of ourselves.
To be sure, there is a huge distance between admitting that we have X thought or desire and acting on X thought or desire. Still what would happen if we humans were as accepting of our humanness as, say, the chicken is of his or her chickenness. As Mr. Whyte points out, we have no evidence that any other part of creation has such a difficult time just being themselves.
We humans come in a variety of shapes, colors, sizes, intelligences, degrees of sociability, intelligence and talent. Some of us crave living in a tight knit family and some of us crave solitude. Some of us are born with perfect pitch and some of us could study with the most renown music teacher and never learn perfect pitch. Some of us thrive in a lab which involves repetitive experiments painstakingly manipulating one factor at a time. Some of us get really excited by mathematical formulas and others need a different sort of stimulation.
The point is, of course, that all of us have some talents or special skills. One is not more and less valuable than another. All are equally important.
We live in a time in which a significant segment of the human population seems to be committed to facing who they are. Many people believe that this may be the richest spiritual time in world history. It is, of course, not surprising that it is also a time of enormous tension between those who are committed to living the truth of their humanness and those whose fear of who they are, as humans, keeps them locked into a prison of self-doubt and a corresponding need to prove or earn their worth. Sometimes this proof involves positing a God who has designed this life journey as a test. This God may require the sacrifice of the life of the committed one and the life of those who refuse to believe in this same God. This God may require large incomes and the corresponding accumulation of stuff or other symbols of power.
We also live in an age in which it seems the secrets are constantly being exposed. It may be a secret bank account, an extra- marital affair, or other “truths” about an individual or a country. Sooner or later someone is likely to unlock and share these “secrets.”
We also live in an age in which we are more connected as a world community than ever before. The definition of community, city, state and even country is being redefined. It is increasingly difficult to deny that we are one body made up on small units
The interesting question is what sort of world will we create and inhabit if we no longer distinguish ourselves as the part of creation which can refuse to be ourselves? Even more interesting, perhaps, is what exciting possibilities will open to us when we are no longer using our time, energy, and talents to run from ourselves?
Perhaps we will never evolve to that point, but then again who could have predicted that we would arrive at this point in our evolution?
Written April 11, 2016
This past weekend I, as usual, downloaded the edition of On Being with Krista Tippett which would air in my home area on Sunday morning, April 10, 2016. This week, Ms. Tippett was having a conversation with David Whyte, the poet, philosopher, and an Associate Fellow at Said Business School as well as consultant/advisor to corporation employees.
His powerful poems soothe, challenge, and sometimes tickle one. His philosophical musings shake up the mind, evoking new questions or perhaps a new awareness of age old questions.
One of the quintessential questions concerns the essence of we humans. What is the essence of our humanness? What differentiates we humans from other parts of creation? Mr. Whyte suggests, “Well, one of the interesting qualities of being human is, by the look of it, we’re the only part of creation that can actually refuse to be ourselves.”
I find this a very basic, simple and fascinating thesis. Leaving aside, for a moment, the question of whether that is the only quality or characteristic or even the primary quality which distinguishes us from the rest of creation, what does it mean to refuse to be ourselves? Certainly we can refuse to own many of our instincts, emotions, thoughts or desires. Those of us who have committed ourselves to a spiritual journey of self-examination have come to accept that honesty, first with oneself, about oneself, is an essential part of this journey. It is a journey which one never completes. Whether the truth is as simple as denying that we hate some habit of our partner or think that their new haircut looks stupid, that we did indeed look at this other person as a sexual object, that we are more fluid in our sexual desires than is comfortable for us, that we are a socialist who wants to be wealthy, or despite one’s pacifism, loves the fact that the “good people” in the new Star Wars movie won by very violent means, we may avoid being honest with ourselves or others.
We run from pain whether its etiology, emotional, or physical. We run from the fact that we are not always kind, cruel, loving, hateful, vulnerable, strong, or devious. The fear of being ourselves – the fear of being less than or more than (what might others expect of us) – leads us to deny, often even to ourselves, our best and worst characteristics or qualities.
Of course, the curious fact is that we are all basically the same. Although some of us might be more able to accept some parts of ourselves we avoid other parts of ourselves.
To be sure, there is a huge distance between admitting that we have X thought or desire and acting on X thought or desire. Still what would happen if we humans were as accepting of our humanness as, say, the chicken is of his or her chickenness. As Mr. Whyte points out, we have no evidence that any other part of creation has such a difficult time just being themselves.
We humans come in a variety of shapes, colors, sizes, intelligences, degrees of sociability, intelligence and talent. Some of us crave living in a tight knit family and some of us crave solitude. Some of us are born with perfect pitch and some of us could study with the most renown music teacher and never learn perfect pitch. Some of us thrive in a lab which involves repetitive experiments painstakingly manipulating one factor at a time. Some of us get really excited by mathematical formulas and others need a different sort of stimulation.
The point is, of course, that all of us have some talents or special skills. One is not more and less valuable than another. All are equally important.
We live in a time in which a significant segment of the human population seems to be committed to facing who they are. Many people believe that this may be the richest spiritual time in world history. It is, of course, not surprising that it is also a time of enormous tension between those who are committed to living the truth of their humanness and those whose fear of who they are, as humans, keeps them locked into a prison of self-doubt and a corresponding need to prove or earn their worth. Sometimes this proof involves positing a God who has designed this life journey as a test. This God may require the sacrifice of the life of the committed one and the life of those who refuse to believe in this same God. This God may require large incomes and the corresponding accumulation of stuff or other symbols of power.
We also live in an age in which it seems the secrets are constantly being exposed. It may be a secret bank account, an extra- marital affair, or other “truths” about an individual or a country. Sooner or later someone is likely to unlock and share these “secrets.”
We also live in an age in which we are more connected as a world community than ever before. The definition of community, city, state and even country is being redefined. It is increasingly difficult to deny that we are one body made up on small units
The interesting question is what sort of world will we create and inhabit if we no longer distinguish ourselves as the part of creation which can refuse to be ourselves? Even more interesting, perhaps, is what exciting possibilities will open to us when we are no longer using our time, energy, and talents to run from ourselves?
Perhaps we will never evolve to that point, but then again who could have predicted that we would arrive at this point in our evolution?
Written April 11, 2016
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