Despite living in an environment that seems bent on being more divisive than inclusive, I will likely always make the case that as humans, we have much more in common, than not. For one, we are all in human bodies, which in and of itself provides a wealth of common ground. Also, we seek fulfilment of basic needs like being loved, feeling safe, and creating a home for our families.
I think about this a lot, since the social and political landscapes we are in would sell us anything that points us in the opposite direction from each other. The more we believe we are different, separate and “other” the greater potential for increased profit margin. Entire industries run their bottom lines fully dependent on this concept that we believe we don’t belong, and we will keep spending money until we do.
For today though, I want to share a little story of common humanity that illustrates the type of small reminders that I look for out in the world, that we are all the same. During an early morning drive, getting Zach to “college” I pulled up to a traffic light. Zach was dozing in the back, and as I saw his closed eyes resting in my rearview mirror, I took a deep breath.
A massive, what we call “Simba Yawn” crept out of me and before I knew it I was in a full body yawn, crazy facial expressions and all. It was like my whole body stretched and it felt so refreshing! As I came back into my body, wondering how crazy I might look to the drivers around me, I looked to the vehicle on my left.
I saw a gruff man who looked nothing like me, in a car, that looked nothing like mine, right in the middle of his own “Simba Yawn!” I was about 5 seconds ahead of him and as soon as I saw him I looked away and smiled! My immediate thought was, “Yup, just like I thought, we are all the same!”
Who knows what that stranger did today, where he was heading or returning from, that had him also trying to restore his human body with a healthy dose of early morning oxygen. But in the split second where we both sat, waiting for the green light, we had a moment of common humanity that was just enough for me to believe I still have it right, when it comes to how much we all share in common.
The belief that we are so extremely different serves a lot of agendas, but I am not confident we as humans are on that list.
If you encounter any fun examples of our shared humanity please share them in the comments!