Being Human

3-21-17 How to be Human

In this early morning coffee shop, the layers are apparent – multiple conversations, music overhead, the sounds from the bar, people moving about, coming in and out of the doors. Most people are engaged with their screens, a few in actual conversations. Endless variations of human bodies and personalities are interacting, ignoring, isolating, but still together in this space. A few gain my attention by contrast and in juxtaposition. Some are worthy of eavesdropping on, of sustained observation. But mostly we all try to maintain our individual space, our protected and defended bubble of attention and isolation.

The question always comes back to what it means to be human and to be Life. Are they the same – humanity embedded in the larger space of Life? Does Life set the parameters or has humanity defined itself through its habits exclusively? Have we evolved through thousands of years into something that can no longer be sustained by Life? Have we come to a place of insistence on our way, our control that denies what the basic structure of Life can sustain?

Obviously, we cannot defy gravity, or live without air and water. But can we see that our will and desires are detrimental to Life, to our ability to survive? What seems small on an individual basis, may become unsustainable when multiplied by 7 billion people.

We may think that we would like to live at the highest standard of living, but most of us are incapable and would suffer the logistics. To recognize that smallness and simplicity are beneficial, are the satisfactory position, would decrease our psychological suffering as we admit that the desire for more is often socially determined. It’s not that we need more, but when we compare, we think we need more.

My thoughts waver between satisfaction with what I have and what I do, to worrying that I am not doing enough, that I don’t have an adequate social network, that I don’t have enough financial security. I try to understand my position as an artist, my responsibility as a human citizen, and my fundamental being in Life (possibly the hardest to understand – what does it demand or require?). So there is a constant push to do, to perform, to justify, and to understand. A space of peace, emptiness, equanimity, and clarity seems elusive. It seems much more natural at this point to strive than it does to (just!) relax and observe.

Can the observer look without its own position, without comparison, without bias, and with understanding or with an acknowledgment of no understanding? Will we see with an openness that allows us to truly take in the human situation and not just take for granted what we experience with indifference?

(Image: How to be Human, The Birth of Humanity)