Being Human
In these isolating times, we’re reminded of the importance of togetherness. The incredible way humans create support for one another is quite the phenomenon. The impact of someone’s voice encouraging us, can fill a void we are certain we will drown in. The way a smile can touch a stranger, bringing light to a deeply dense darkness. Sharing our laughter can crack through the silence of depression. We have this innate ability to lift one another up.
As we find ways to be together while apart, we have risen to the challenge and we have faltered.
The way our unique gifts have been shared through social media has been astounding. From healthcare workers on the frontlines sharing their grief & their hope, to the parents of disabled children virtually holding the hand of parents just like them that live in constant fear.
The amateur cook fumbling their way through a recipe because everyone starts somewhere, to the entertainers giving free online concerts to the masses because music is joyfully universal. A community applauding first responders every single night for the sacrifices they make every single day, to the celebrity’s binge watching your favorite shows with you because they too are grateful for moments of escape.
The fundraising and giving back that has taken place to ensure PPE is available to those risking their lives for the rest of us, to the children performing at home science experiments, reminding us there are reasons greater than ourselves to do the right thing, right now.
The parents trying to be teachers and wondering how anyone can be, to those reading bedtime stories online to our children because its been a long day and we’ve lost our ambition. The Zoo’s live streaming the animals to bring us some joy, to the package delivery people taking that extra precaution to keep us and themselves safe.
The food delivery teams that put themselves at risk to give us a break from burning dinner, to the neighbor that put together a walking scavenger hunt for the children missing their friends and schools.
Humans can also be the flip side of that & rip one another to shreds, until nothing remains but the blood of someone’s tears upon the floor of our superiority. For every act of kindness, you will find the verbal lashing from those insistent their constitutional rights are being violated, all because they are being asked to do the right thing for someone else.
For every protester screaming into the faces of law enforcement, you will find a neighbor delivering groceries to the doorstep of someone in need. For every morbid ‘sacrifice the weak’ sign you find waving in the streets, you will find a teacher trying to keep their students fed.
For every person demanding the gyms reopen, you will find a trainer holding classes on rooftops. For every plea that the hair & nail salons reopen, you will find people learning to care for themselves.
For every insistence that restaurants reopen, you will find a family rediscovering the dinner table. For every closed movie theater, you will find streaming services working with production companies to give us new releases, in a new way.
For every person refusing to wear a mask, you will find a supermarket employee showing up so you can continue to put your family’s needs before theirs. For every conspiracy theory you read, you will find a scientist desperately trying to separate fact from fiction in the media overflow.
For every person refusing to take precautions, you will find a nurse holding the hand of a fearful patient all alone. For every person screaming profits over people, you will find food banks feeding America.
For everyone insisting the bars reopen, a family holds a funeral no one can attend.
For every group that insists their wants are more important than your needs, you will find an ICU ward making sacrifices for strangers. For every person standing on the capitol steps exercising their right to live free, you will find a family saying goodbye to a loved one through a phone screen as they die.
For every commentator that insists healthcare shouldn’t be a right, you will find dozens dying from the lack of it. For every positive test our states report, you will find hundreds unknowingly spreading the virus.
Every human action has a human reaction. Nothing greater has ever had such an enormous impact across the globe as humans. No other species has risen to the heights we’ve achieved. Whether its climate change, the food chain or the health & safety of others, humans can do great things and we can also do great harm.
When we insist all lives matter, shouldn’t our actions reflect that? When we set rules for a society, shouldn’t our own behavior set the example?
We are beautifully, uniquely and powerfully human.
Mister Rodgers is long quoted for telling the story his mother once told him, gently reminding each of us that in the face of tragedy, we need only look for the helpers.
Which human are you?
