First of all, a very happy 4th July tomorrow to all my friends across the ocean.
The name got me thinking: “Independence Day”. We’re all a bit like children, aren’t we? We go through our childhood and adolescence gradually pulling away from our parents and asserting our independence, and this is a vital process for all of us.
But have we humans gone too far with our need for independence? Do we maintain our separateness so fiercely that we can no longer connect in a deep way? Do we not realise that what someone does on one side of the world affects others thousands of miles away? And that each decision on what to do, what to buy, what to eat has a small or large ripple effect around the world? We are all interdependent on each other, like it or not.
Perhaps what we need is a global Interdependence Day to celebrate all the ways in which we are different but similar as humans on this small planet.
Just a thought.
Photograph by psutterbug
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
An excellent thought and I second the motion.
“Global Interdependence Day”
I love that thought, and heartily add an “Amen,” if I may be allowed. Hold on to that spirit, Tess!
And a great thought it is!
A speaker at a Sunday forum once illustrated our connectedness in the world population with the intertwining of fingers and then comments re grass roots – totally entangled, inseparable. That illustration has always been so clear to me and I actually often think of it when I’m down on my knees, in the grass trying to pull it or keep it out of the flower beds. I try to get it out before the (grass) population grows too far to be immovable. Yes, we would be an amazing interdependent world if we could settle on such a thing…..I expect egos would have to be eliminated prior to that ever actually taking place.
By the way, my spouse was in attendance at the same forum and though I’ve often quoted the speaker’s phrasing that I’ve never forgotten, he has no memory of the speaker ever saying that. Not surprising – just confirmation that we all hear what we’re ready or prepared to hear or what we hear when we’re not distracted briefly by something apart from the speaker to which we are listening.
Truer words were never written, Tess! As citizens of the world, we would all be well served if everyone everywhere celebrated our similarities and common goals for a livable, sustainable, and safe planet.
I love the clear picture of what “grass roots” really look like and what it shows it takes to promote interdependence. For one thing, it takes me.
Peace! Barbara
Thank you all, and Sunrise I love the grass roots analogy. (It’s a nightmare to dig out if you don’t want it, isn’t it!) I never thought about the origin of that phrase, but I bet that’s it.
I can’t remember where I heard it, but a long time ago, someone said to me that everyone thought independence was such a worthy virtue, and so difficult to attain.
And the comment that followed opened my eyes. To paraphrase…
Independence isn’t hard, it’s easy. It’s interdependence that’s difficult. To finally open yourself up to thought that we are all interconnected, that we truly need each other to succeed… That’s really hard to do. And the far worthier goal.
Richard, welcome to this space and thank you for commenting. The comment is exactly right. It is a form of opening yourself up.