Waldon here, and I'm in a particularly philosophic mood. But before I get into my rant and thesis, I would like to, nay, I would love to congratulate Bre. Today, Bre did her road test for her driver's license and, of course, passed! Congratulations Bre! We were all rooting for you and as a British guy who was getting drunk in my shed once said to me, "May you have many happy miles . . ." Of course, he was talking about a motorcycle in regards to myself (and a pathfinder is much different than a motorcycle) but the principle and meaning is the same, yeah?
So anyways, I was thinking tonight, about the many facets of the human soul. Of what makes us human to each other. What it is that creates a sense of oneness when we look at another of ourselves.
Deep in our collective mind, we claim that we are human when we can recognize ourselves as of the same family and genus. But what is it, really?Is a human just an evolved ape?
Or is a human somebody that has emotions and feelings, a right to speak and converse? A mind and soul, a part of the whole that is our world?
I believe so. We would not be human without our mind that can rationalize and justify, that relies on gut instinct to lead us through our troubles. We would not be human if we cannot love or hate, or fear or lust for another. A human, to myself, is somebody that can empathize with another and feel pain. "Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee." said by English poet, John Donne. A human is somebody that feels the loss of another as keenly as if it were itself.
What brings out these emotions? What part of being a human would make us love or hate? There are thousands of facets of the soul and million reasons more why somebody would do something that they do. War or famine, prosperity or abundance. While a soldier may never know what the rich man feels as he sleeps in his down filled bed, the soldier knows how it feels to love another like a brother of his own blood. The harshness and violence of war where blood is spilled more often than your breath is taken in, is the germination of the seed of gentility and peace that grows in the hearts of all those that worked to create it to end the pain. The man who was deprived will know desperation and fear, maybe even gratitude for what he has in his times of need, while the man who was given all may appreciate what he was given, or not at all.
Through the world we walk, we are constantly fighting our own battles and wars. We are always ousting our own personal demons. We must parry the thrusts of the damned and deranged and hope for the betterment of humankind. Not for the whole of us that are born with some meaningless strands of DNA, of genetic material you cannot even SEE without effort, but for humankind. For all that think and play. For all those that want to see peace and tranquility throughout the conscious whole.
The human condition expresses itself through all aspects of our life. From the first cro-magnon man and woman, to the final human left when everything is done, we will have some way to show ourselves. To leave behind the ideal image we have for ourselves. To leave behind our messages and our thoughts. Through music, religion, poetry, art, sciences, our maths. Everything. A human will know this, a human may not know art or poetry, but a human can solve a math problem or sing a song, write a book, lead an army and even raise a child. What is human, will know it is human by it's self awareness. It knows it is itself. Thus, it is human.
Remember, although rationalization and logic tells us that things like war are detestable, but as humans we have to see it from every angle. We have to walk through the forest of acceptance that grew from those seeds grown from war and learn what it is that we can gain. We can gain the love of life brought from the fear of death. We can learn who we really are from how we bond through our moments of adversity. The real humankind will come together to battle a common cause. Whether we ever find another sentient race in the galaxy or not, whether we ever evolve into something different, we will always know what something human is. It is something that loves like us, something that feels like us. No matter what it is that has broken them to the point where they cannot feel, they will have felt once. We accept them for what they are.
To be human is to accept them for who they are. To be human is not to have the same DNA as us, it is to BE. It is to LIVE for life. That is humanity.
So, I'm sure you've had enough of me for now. Maybe I'll come back sometime and clean up this post, it sure could use a little more coherency. Hopefully I've given you all something to think about.
-Waldon
So anyways, I was thinking tonight, about the many facets of the human soul. Of what makes us human to each other. What it is that creates a sense of oneness when we look at another of ourselves.
Deep in our collective mind, we claim that we are human when we can recognize ourselves as of the same family and genus. But what is it, really?Is a human just an evolved ape?
Or is a human somebody that has emotions and feelings, a right to speak and converse? A mind and soul, a part of the whole that is our world?
I believe so. We would not be human without our mind that can rationalize and justify, that relies on gut instinct to lead us through our troubles. We would not be human if we cannot love or hate, or fear or lust for another. A human, to myself, is somebody that can empathize with another and feel pain. "Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee." said by English poet, John Donne. A human is somebody that feels the loss of another as keenly as if it were itself.
What brings out these emotions? What part of being a human would make us love or hate? There are thousands of facets of the soul and million reasons more why somebody would do something that they do. War or famine, prosperity or abundance. While a soldier may never know what the rich man feels as he sleeps in his down filled bed, the soldier knows how it feels to love another like a brother of his own blood. The harshness and violence of war where blood is spilled more often than your breath is taken in, is the germination of the seed of gentility and peace that grows in the hearts of all those that worked to create it to end the pain. The man who was deprived will know desperation and fear, maybe even gratitude for what he has in his times of need, while the man who was given all may appreciate what he was given, or not at all.
Through the world we walk, we are constantly fighting our own battles and wars. We are always ousting our own personal demons. We must parry the thrusts of the damned and deranged and hope for the betterment of humankind. Not for the whole of us that are born with some meaningless strands of DNA, of genetic material you cannot even SEE without effort, but for humankind. For all that think and play. For all those that want to see peace and tranquility throughout the conscious whole.
The human condition expresses itself through all aspects of our life. From the first cro-magnon man and woman, to the final human left when everything is done, we will have some way to show ourselves. To leave behind the ideal image we have for ourselves. To leave behind our messages and our thoughts. Through music, religion, poetry, art, sciences, our maths. Everything. A human will know this, a human may not know art or poetry, but a human can solve a math problem or sing a song, write a book, lead an army and even raise a child. What is human, will know it is human by it's self awareness. It knows it is itself. Thus, it is human.
Remember, although rationalization and logic tells us that things like war are detestable, but as humans we have to see it from every angle. We have to walk through the forest of acceptance that grew from those seeds grown from war and learn what it is that we can gain. We can gain the love of life brought from the fear of death. We can learn who we really are from how we bond through our moments of adversity. The real humankind will come together to battle a common cause. Whether we ever find another sentient race in the galaxy or not, whether we ever evolve into something different, we will always know what something human is. It is something that loves like us, something that feels like us. No matter what it is that has broken them to the point where they cannot feel, they will have felt once. We accept them for what they are.
To be human is to accept them for who they are. To be human is not to have the same DNA as us, it is to BE. It is to LIVE for life. That is humanity.
So, I'm sure you've had enough of me for now. Maybe I'll come back sometime and clean up this post, it sure could use a little more coherency. Hopefully I've given you all something to think about.
-Waldon
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