What Does It Mean to be Human?

“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

― American Author, Anne Lamott

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“We would be warm below the storm

In our little hideaway beneath the waves

Resting our head on the sea bed

In an octopus’s garden near a cave.”

— Octopus’s Garden by Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr, the Beatles)

I learned something incredibly organic about human nature,

by watching videos of a baby innately laughing at the antics of his father casually and loudly tearing strips of paper,

both father and child sharing an amazing, human, bonding moment.

Precious seconds of sheer joy for both.

Have you seen this video yourself?

Were you tempted to recreate it in your own home?

It gives me pause to realize the simple things that make us human — a smile, laughter, tears, a whisper.

Sharing moments. Or living in isolation.

Both ends of a tangled spectrum.

We dream of reaching the moon and the stars.

We seek light in the darkness. Security and safety.

Bonds with those we trust.

We gravitate towards certain people

until we find our tribe.

Or we find ourselves making deals

with the devil.

All part of being human.

Humanity is deeply flawed — and far from perfect.

Perpetually evolving and at times bi-polar

when it comes to things like equality and injustice,

bias, prejudice, hate, tolerance, empathy, kindness, hypocrisy.

And to be honest, Anne Lamott’s sardonic quote shook me to the core at first, until I realized the brilliant, nuanced, ironic implications

and wondered if anyone else understood what the author really meant

in a web of words that were supposed to make you think — beyond the words —

As if thinking was the thing that sets us apart, that flexes and bends the mind, that inherently and beautifully, exquisitely makes us human.

Like the precious sound of a child’s laughter.

Or the poetic imagination

of an octopus’s garden.

Or the deeper meaning of things.

I wonder if you agree.