We are all connected: reflections on 2018

When we oppress others for who they are, we oppress and constrain ourselves from becoming who we have the potential to be. But when we take time to know and understand the experience of others, we will know ourselves more deeply too.

When we read books by authors cut from the same mould as us we hear only one small part of our shared history and knowledge and then we replicate and repeat the same mistakes. But when we read books by diverse authors we begin to understand the richness and vibrancy of our human lives, and thus we can create a richer future.

When we exclude and demean other humans for their sexuality or their gender (or deny their existence) we exclude parts of our own selves and limit our own existence. When we embrace the spectrum of sexuality and gender in others, we can embrace our full selves too.

When we show our children only one image of beauty they will be confined to a beauty-less life. When we show our children that beauty comes in all colours, all shapes and all sizes they will see beauty everywhere, themselves included.

When we listen to or watch the same kind of artists, and ignore the talents of others, we limit our own talents and creativity. When we explore music, art and performance from people of different genders, races, sexualities, classes, cultures and backgrounds we can better understand our own hearts and set our souls free.

When we dismiss and denigrate other people’s cultures we will never really know what it means to belong. When we understand the fabric and importance of other people’s cultures, and hold them in high regard, we can find our own place in the world.

When we ignore the pain and strife that consumes other people’s lives we are just waiting idly for our own turn to be consumed by that pain. When we protect and empower others, and truly see the barriers they face, we make ourselves stronger too.

When we fear difference, draw fake lines between us and disconnect from others, we section off the greatest parts of us. Only when we embrace, value and respect our differences, will we truly be able to build a life worth living.

Here’s to living a connected and fulfilling life in 2019!