Have you ever been sitting in a movie theatre and felt a
kinship with the character on the screen?
Ever had something hit a little too close to home? Have you read a book
and wondered how they knew what was going on in your head? There’s a reason for that. I’m going to call that reason “The Human
Experience.”
No matter your station, your race, religion, sexual
orientation or creed, if you have “this” experience, “this” will almost
inevitably happen. Cause and effect of
the human kind. Human experiences
encompass birth through death and everything in between and they are fact.
- If you live to a certain age, you go through puberty. Male or female, puberty is hard, no matter what.
- If you are in a monogamous relationship and stay in that relationship long enough, your relationship and sex life will most probably go through a slump. Relationship slumps come in many shapes and sizes and it’s difficult to judge one against another, but they happen.
- You yearn for something different sometimes. You wonder, what if? And you don’t like being lied to.
- If you’re female and experience labor, it hurts. It really hurts. If you’re male and get kicked in the crotch, it also really hurts.
- If you choose to raise children, there will be many highs and lows, tough times and times of joy. Babies cry and wear out the parents, toddlers have WAY too much energy and teenagers try your patience. And it doesn’t end when they move out. When you’re a parent, you’re a parent forever.
- If you’re lucky enough to live long enough (and long enough is subjective), you’ll be touched by cancer. Whether it’s someone you know or you get it yourself, it’ll be there. And when someone close to you dies, you’ll have to walk the steps of grief.
After listing all of these out, I was wondering if this is
more a white middle class straight married American experience. Because that’s where I fall. Are any of these events only experienced by
Americans? Or only middle class
people? Or white people? Or straight folks? Are these experiences unique to North
Americans or people of the northern hemisphere?
I don’t think so.
Granted, I’ve never lived anywhere but here or been anyone
but me, (for all I know foxes and Martians could have the same stuff happen)
but I think these are human
experiences, not to be pigeon-holed into anything but the overall umbrella of
the human race.
These human experiences connect us. Even if you choose to live in isolation,
playing on your introvertedness and without a physical community, if you reach
out (be it online or however people who aren’t online reach out) you can find
someone out there with whom to share your human experience. Someone out there has been through what
you’re going through. And it’s possible
that they’re not just like you.
This is important.
We’re all connected. We’re all
the same on the human level. This fact should bring us closer together, allow
us to share and feel each other’s pain and joy.
But today’s society divides us and tells us that we’re all different and
should proclaim our differences loudly and with passion. I don’t mean to discount each human’s
uniqueness and place in this universe, and we should all be proud to be just
who we are, but we still need to remember…
We’re all connected by the human experience.
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