Ubuntu

Come down, come down, come down. I always have a lot of things to say about coming down. What I mean by coming down is a backward retracing of steps– made by our selves, community, and humanity– to the beginning where nature’s messages are most clear. I think that everything humans have built has taken us only farther from truth and satisfaction. But I’ve already talked about that plenty.

Now I want to look at what exactly it is that we stand to learn from nature, starting with our own emotions…

A couple weeks ago I was walking down State Street with a visiting friend when we passed by a regular panhandler. I didn’t think twice about his presence, didn’t even consider his feelings, until I realized my friend stopped and was digging through her purse for money. This is a girl who already works two jobs and is considering getting a third to make ends meet for herself. The logic machine in my head wanted to say, “No, don’t do that. There are better ways to help people.” But then I was disgusted with myself. Here was a man so desperate that he was standing on a street literally begging people to give him money. Begging! Can you imagine doing that? I would like to think that if there came a point where I literally couldn’t afford to buy my own food, and I had no friends or family who could support me, that I could at the very least call upon the compassion of strangers to help me get food in my stomach. Sure, a panhandler isn’t necessarily going to spend your money on food, but if they are desperate enough to sacrifice their dignity to shake a cup and say “I need your help,” then who are we to not help them? This doesn’t mean I’ve started giving money to panhandlers. But it does mean that every time I pass one I at least consider them and try to put myself in their position, and it is the source of my inspiration to work with Street Pulse. So I use logic to decide how to act, but the inspiration for my actions comes from pure emotion.

I really don’t think it’s possible for anyone to act on anything but emotion; sometimes it’s just harder to see. When we can’t accept the most basic emotions in our life, they still get through; they just get really convoluted in the process of breaking down our barriers. My biggest barrier is with anger. I hardly ever allow myself to feel angry at anything, but the emotion is still there just as strong. Because I can’t accept the anger for what it is in its purest state, it gets through in more complicated ways and leads to passive aggressive actions or self-degradation. Emotions are a gift of nature. If we allow ourselves to experience them we may find that we don’t need things like soap operas, video games, Facebook and other artificial creations that temporarily treat our unquenched desires.

Experiencing pure emotion goes beyond our own personal health. I believe it is the path to a more peaceful world. The way to find your philanthropic side is not to become selfless, but rather to embrace your selfishness and expand your definition of self, because as my wonderful high school econ teacher taught us, we can never escape selfishness.

My dear friend Mary Glen recently pointed me to the concept of Ubuntu, born in South Africa. Check it out:

The beautiful thing is that Ubuntu is completely natural if we simply open ourselves to feeling. If we listen to the people around us, and experience their emotions as we experience our own, other people become part of our own definitions of self. No logic necessary!

While I was writing this I realized my friend Ben just posted something similar! Read it! He says, “Is it sick to say that I want to experience poverty, homelessness, racism–just so I can understand?” No! It sounds quite a lot like a desire for Ubuntu And I’ll echo his final thoughts: “Crying, for me, is part of the process of understanding.  When John Coltrane wails through his horn, I cry because I realize his pain–I understand it.  True understanding is the basis of compassion. And compassion is what this fucked up world needs.”

Word.

Next up: what we can learn from the world outside humanity