 Spiritual: July 02, 2025 Issue [#13217] |
This week: Looking Beyond Edited by: Kit  
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If you could change one thing about your society, what would it be, and why?
It's human to look beyond ourselves, but we shouldn't look just up; there's a lot going on around us.
This week's Spiritual Newsletter is all about the self, and the other.
Kit
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What makes us human? Some people say it’s our capacity to love. However, I don’t think love is unique to the human race; I think animals are just as capable. Consider the love of a mother cheetah for her cubs, or swans who stay with the same partner for their entire lives. Those who have pets will be able to vouch for just how much love their friend can give.
Some people say that what sets us apart is our intelligence, and a percentage of those people reason that animals purely act on instinct. I cannot agree with this. Again, living with pets convinces me that not all their actions are merely instinctual. They show humour, playfulness, even deception and jealousy. Still, it is clear that humans have made the largest impact on this planet out of all the different species. We’ve built skyscrapers, computers, nuclear power plants. We’ve developed modern medicine to increase the lifespan and well-being of all of us, and we’ve invented weapons of mass destruction to aid our wars. I’m not sure that everything we’ve invented is of benefit to us, but invention and critical thought are definitely part of being human.
I think that what makes us human is our urge, even need, to look beyond our self, beyond the short span of life, beyond our world to find answers, and reason, and a sense of what is next. Whilst doing so, we look inwards at our own belief system, our morals and actions, driven by the desire for self-improvement. I think that human beings are, by nature, a spiritual species. From our earliest days we’ve looked at the sky, and the world around us, to find the meaning of life, and the reasons for our existence.
There are many aspects to being human, some beautiful, some less so. We feel the need to communicate, bond with others, express our thoughts and feelings, and to share our ideals. We love, we dream, we hope, we dance, we sing. We also fight, and argue, we get angry and destructive, greedy and territorial. Human beings are complex. It doesn’t help that modern society seems to increasingly limit our expressions of our humanity.
Whilst laws and rules are essential to a functioning society, the limits and standards we impose on ourselves can have a negative impact on our very being. We criticize others because they do not wear the 'right' clothes, or hairstyle, or live the 'right' lifestyle. We criticize the way others live, from the furniture and decorations of their homes, to their cars, their careers and their holiday destination. We criticize those who have different views from the norm, those who are too loud, or too quiet, too sociable or not sociable enough. We mock those who are too thin, too fat, whose general looks do not live up to our ideal of beauty and acceptability. Where diversity and self-expression were appreciated, even needed, to get our species to where we are today, nowadays you have to fit in to be accepted. And even then, people self-consciously apply filters to the images they post to share of their lives.
It’s no wonder that an increasing amount of people find themselves depressed, or anxious, or like they are just not good enough. With the availability of the Internet, a sizable portion of people has turned to their computer for solace, in the hope of finding acceptance for who they are and to find those who think like they do. In a way, this can be helpful, in another way it’s a bit tragic that our species cannot be more accepting of the wonderful variety of individuals humankind has to offer.
When searching for meaning, and a definition of the self, it’s completely natural to look to something greater for answers. However, this should not stop us from looking around us, and finding beauty and meaning in what we see… including those amongst us who might be a bit 'different' from the norm. After all, who decides this norm? We could change it, if we wanted to, to be far more accepting and inclusive. This may not lead directly to world peace, but it's a step closer to getting there.
Kit
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Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
The Spiritual Newsletter Team
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