When did you first ask yourself the question about what it is to be human? Or what does it mean to be a good one? Why are we here? What is the meaning of all this? I think I asked myself versions of that question for most of my childhood years.
I remember being 12, walking with hundreds of schoolgirls towards Wembley Stadium to watch an international hockey match. Suddenly I felt being in the crowd in a completely different way: all moving as one, everything connected, belonging, necessary to the whole. At the same time, I could see each person as individual, as singular, separate and different as me. Astounding.
Every one of these unique beings experienced themselves as important and central to life as I did. Each person was on their own particular walk to Wembley. And we were all one thing, particles in a wave of experience.
So I was ‘off’ and my curiosity and love for life’s extremities and peculiarities was ignited.
Becoming human, I have learned, is not a given. It takes attention, dedication, care and love. It takes humility, resilience and courage. It takes being present. How often are you somewhere other than in your direct experience?
Becoming acceptable, becoming educated and socialized, becoming successful, an achiever, a contributor, a ‘looker’, ‘some-body’: all these and more get in the way.
If you are interested in the ways in which you are truly becoming human, join me. Let’s explore together.
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