Saturday 18 March 2017

Thoughts in Progress

Before you carry on reading this column, please, do the following: stand in front of a mirror, preferably a full-length one and ask yourself this question: what am I? Not, who are you? You know who you are, but what you are will pose a different challenge to answer. Then, come back to my blog and post a short, one- or two-line response below.

At some point in the last ten to twelve years I posed a similar question to myself. Before that time, however, I never queried what I was. Or at least, not consciously. If ever the question arose, it came from someone, rather than from me.

I would wager (and I am not the betting type) that your answers included categories such as age, race, complexion, body shape and height. Some might have ventured a bit further and included their sexual orientation and politics.

How many of you started your response with the phrase: I am a human being?

There is no catch in this post. Like you for a long time I described myself as Cuban, male, black, young (still and forever), able-bodied, neither tall, nor short, slim and muscular, straight, leftwing (but not romantic), cynical and pragmatic. Two lines that established what I was. No priority in that list. Yet, at some point the pragmatic has taken over the Cuban. Other times the Cuban has replaced the black as a bigger identity marker.

However, hidden under all these thick layers there was one trait that I shared with every other man or woman on Planet Earth: our human experience. What is it about us humans that compels us to “dress up” this essential feature with countless other elements?

Our starting point in life, barring location and economic status, is similar. We cry most of the time as we come out of the womb; we immediately gravitate towards our mother’s breast, seeking nourishment. We react warmly to affection. We begin the long, arduous process of living, knowing that our individual choices must not hurt others, that we are responsible not only for ourselves but also for the world at large.

The challenge is that at some point in our lives and at a very early stage for some, we also start to layer up our identity. The markers we choose might or might not be of our own volition but the decision to act on them is ours.

The reason why I have been thinking about identity markers and our common humanity is the situation of refugees in Europe. The dangers these people face is threefold. First, their situation back home. Second, the journey many have to undertake to reach what they would consider a safe sanctuary. Third, but by no means least, the new life they have to carve out in a land to which they never thought of emigrating in the first place.


The thinking on refugees is usually framed in terms of economic cost: how much is it to feed them, clothe them, house them and employ them? The discussion very rarely delves deeper into the reasons why people with reasonable life standards would risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean or war zones to get to Europe. If we did, we would probably find an index finger pointing back at us. On the one hand, our military industry demands that more wars be waged. Otherwise, how on earth would we manage to sell our weapons? On the other hand, our economic choices have a knock-on effect on Third World countries and their capacity for self-reliance.

I described myself as a cynic a few paragraphs before. Nevertheless, I have confidence in the world we live. I am also a romantic (not of the “plastic socialist” type, though) and believe that the majority of human interactions involve millions of acts of kindness and co-operation. Part of the reason why I hold these beliefs (note the use of what is commonly seen as religious language. I am reclaiming it) is that many years ago I, too, stood in front of a full-length mirror and asked myself what I was. The first answer I came up with still resonates to this day: human.



© 2017

Next Post: “Let’s Talk About…”, to be published on Wednesday 22nd March at 6pm (GMT)

24 comments:

  1. When I look in the mirror I see someone who doesn't take himself too seriously, someone who loves art and telling stories.

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  2. hih hih I always have to smile reading your posts(Ok.not always)Who Am I ?????Ohh Good lord It can be a discussion going on forever :))))
    But as you say Human includes it all :))

    About the refugees I am a bit tired of it..it never ends the story it goes back to when earth was inherited by humans..It is always a war someplace and someone always is hurt by it..I dont now..i pay my taxes 10000 kr every month and i hope the goverment, we have chosen, treat.. them well -also to the refugees and our new etnic norwegians.I am half spanish -canadian- but have always worked the shit out of me..(sometimes with 3 jobs)to be what I am today.I think I am a working class hero :) :) :)

    Good post Cuban.

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  3. Human indeed. And our similarities are so much bigger than our differences - which all too often get more attention.
    Thank you. Another wonderful thought provoking post.

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  4. The mirror broke! Just kidding. It is a good question that we should continually ask ourselves to keep us grounded in reality. I cannot answer this question without harking back to my faith and a belief that God created and instilled his image in all, therefore we must treat others in ways we would want to be treated. And the refugee, the one driven from his or her home, is especially important. They can't just be reduced to economic costs or ignored cause we are afraid.

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  5. I am a person with human feelings, wishes, and foibles. The proudest part of me is that I am a mother with all the marvelous feelings that accompany parenthood.

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  6. I am a human..being.
    I am a survivor.

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  7. Honestly, I could go on and on as there are entire sections of academia devoted to this one concept. However, the one I've found sticks with me has to do with the fact that we as humans are instinctually driven to create "the other" as a means of defensive group dynamics. This results in many things, but our stereotypical identifying behaviors are definitely one of the biggest.

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  8. I'm the same thing I've been seeing in the mirror for the past few years--an old white guy. I figure that's the label many would give me judging from things I hear and read. I don't really feel all that old most of the time. I'm white and that doesn't bother me or make me feel superior in any way. And I'm a guy who is attracted to women and don't feel particularly macho, but not ashamed of my masculinity. And I am American and happy and proud to be so. Don't harbor any guilt concerning what or who I am. No reason to.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. by the way, the print in your comment section is so small that I am typing by instinct and relying on the red warnings of spell check to let me know when something is obviously wrong. If the red doesn't appear then I assume maybe what I typed was kind of correct. Telling you this from my perspective. Don't know what others see when they are here.

      Arlee Bird
      Tossing It Out

      Delete
  9. Aging widow (though my head still thinks I'm under 30), mother, grandmother, privileged to love and be loved, have plenty to eat and a roof over my head that doesn't leak.

    One of the many things that travelling has taught me is how we all share fundamental needs - food, shelter, and to be loved. The rest is just window dressing.

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  10. Hi ACIL - I'd like to add a human being with a brain ... and empathy to those who do not live in the free world - and would ask people to put themselves into a refugee's shoes ... and help, rather than hinder ... the world would be a better place. An essential post to read - we need to think of others .... a priority. Cheers Hilary

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  11. Being a refugee must make one feel less than human. I admire those who can hold on to their identity and always noticed how many of our neighbours did when I first moved to our area of London many years ago. IN those days there were lots of elderly people round here who had fled from Nazi Germany or the harsh postwar communist regimes of Central Europe. I was always impressed by their fortitude and strength, and noticed a number of different ways they seemed to cope. Some would still be fighting the world - even if they thought you had slipped ahead of them in queue at the supermarket they might actually attack you physically, despite their by then rather advanced age. Others were intellectuals who had managed to work out how to make sense of their terrible experiences. So many were supported by their religious and ethical beliefs. Of course many different ways, but humans do have so many different ways of reacting.

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  12. I don't have a full length mirror but I do know that I am human and that I care about people, especially refugees who I worry about all the time. Sadly, I am unable to do anything about their situation - being old and past it - but friendly words are as important as any coins, a way of welcoming them to my world.

    I too have the small type problem when leaving a reply here. Do tell Arlee that an immediate adjustment on the keyboard (assuming he uses a PC) can be made to enlarge the type.

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    Replies
    1. I'm aware of the ability to enlarge. At 90% the print is still relatively small. At 100% the size goes beyond the borders.

      I think there is something on the set up page where a blogger can adjust the appearance of their page and default size of print. Of course, I'm kind of a computer dummy so I might be wrong. It just seems that this is one of a few blogs that appear on my computer in this manner while most look quite normal and comfortable to read..

      Thanks, Valerie.

      Arlee Bird
      Tossing It Out

      Delete
  13. When I look in the mirror, I'm always surprised by how "ethnic" I look. I'm a Caucasian Jewish American, but many people assume I'm Hispanic, Arab or whatever. Strangers question my parentage, reach for my black curly hair or frown at my olive skin, demanding, "No, where are you really from?" I'm both the outsider and the insider whom people ask for directions at home and abroad. I prefer your label "human." If we look for what we share in common then there is no reason for discrimination or prejudice.

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  14. Human we all are indeed. I'd rather go to a fun house though, then I can be all kinds of things lol

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  15. Bien que hoy me he mirado al espejo, pues he empezado a sacar la ropa de inverno y hacer una elección de ella para deshacerme o guardarla para el próximo año, si la primavera se viene y hay que identificarse con una buena sonrisa.
    Un feliz domingo.

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  16. "I'm the liberal, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, secular, outspoken feminist you were warned about." :)
    Many years ago I downloaded an image stating the above, because I found it interesting. I'm also many other things, apparently opposite to those epithets...
    I'm cynical too: The fact that we all are humans, doesn't mean we can live together in peace. Unfortunately.
    I so enjoy your posts!

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  17. The first words to pop into my head when I looked at my reflection: "I'm a man in search of something." Not sure what that means, but as always, you've got me thinking, and for that I am extremely grateful. I want to have confidence in this world, too, although on some days it's pretty hard. But then a stranger will show me even the slightest bit of kindness and my faith is restored.

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  18. When I look into a mirror, I see myself contemplating my existence while running a maze searching for a passageway into another existence ....

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  19. I too am human and belong to a minority no-one would have immigrate to their shores...Even my own country sometimes leaves me fighting for my rights.

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  20. I asked that question more times then was healthy for me.

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  21. Strangely, I didn't start with a human being.. does that mean I am less human?

    I look at myself and think that I am this collection of molecules, cells, memories and aspirations that has come together at this point in space and time. Ephemeral. That is what I am.... and at some level, I think, that is all I am.

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