Most of the people on this planet live through the ego. They feel that they themselves are special, apart from the crowd in some way, but they are not willing to acknowledge other people’s specialness. They feel threatened by people who are different from them, but instead of trying to understand another person’s point of view, they condemn them.
The different specialty clubs
There are many different ‘exclusive clubs’ that people proudly belong to. There are the:
-
nationality clubs
-
skin colored clubs
-
Rich, poor and between clubs
-
political clubs
-
religious clubs
-
sexual orientation clubs
-
disabled clubs
-
sick clubs
-
sport clubs
-
creative arts clubs
-
Intellectual and non-intellectual clubs
-
environmental clubs
-
animal rights clubs
-
Food Choice Clubs
-
Health Options Clubs
And the list goes on! What a lot of people don’t recognize is that there is, in fact, only one club
The human club
Our diversity is what makes life interesting. I love seeing people who dance or create music beautifully, generate emotion through their acting skills, or are accomplished athletes. I also understand myself well enough to know that I don’t have enough passion for any of these things to make the necessary sacrifices to get anywhere near their level of excellence. When she was in her early 20s, she played the guitar and sang folk songs in public and was also immersed in amateur theater; in fact, she wanted to be a Shakespearean actress at the time. In retrospect, I realize that these activities were not my greatest passion. I have friends who are athletes, dancers, singers and artists, each one of them has such a passion for their form of expression that, for them, it is as important as breathing. Although I might have had talent, I didn’t have the necessary overwhelming passion and therefore I don’t belong in their clubs: I can only glimpse inside the door through my friendships.
In most parts of the world, members of the creative arts club are happily accepted and even sought after, and the ‘cream of the crop’ is showered with our admiration due to their superior skills. There are some countries where creative expression is banned and the consequences dire, but luckily these are few and far between.
The positive and negative effects of these clubs
As mentioned above, creative arts club members are rarely ostracized and many other clubs are willing to open their doors to these people and accept them as friends. However, not all clubs are the same.
Many clubs grant visiting rights to members of other clubs! For example, many of us today have friends and colleagues of different nationalities, skin color, religions, politics, sexual orientation, etc. The mix of members from these clubs creates the platform for the Human Beings club.
The problems really arise through the hard core members of any of these clubs. The sanctimonious – the people who hate anyone who is different! Your intolerance is the main cause of suffering in this world of ours. The clubs with the most money, power and influence, that is, the political, religious and health option clubs, can attack these hard core members of their own clubs and other clubs and manipulate and push them into behavior that has originated in fear-based beliefs. From there another club is formed: the ‘I’m right and you’re wrong’ club.
Being a paid member of any of these clubs can be extremely limiting. Some club memberships are obvious, that is. I can’t pretend I’m not in the white English women’s club: I might get away with it for a short time, but whites and women definitely not!
Some people are afraid of being kicked out by other club members if they spread their wings and start befriending members of other ‘not allowed/tolerated’ clubs. In truth, they could lose both their friends and family if they made that choice, so fear keeps them in a club that no longer fits them and restricts their learning and advancement.
I also have doubts about ‘disease’ clubs. I know it is comforting to be in communication with other people who have the same illnesses, who can offer us support in our most difficult moments and when we are in pain. However, I think a lot depends on the orientation of the specific club, whether it is run as a ‘pity party’ or filled with people who are genuinely trying to improve (and don’t believe it when they tell you they can’t) and they’re prepared to look beyond accepted medical practices to find a cure, whether it’s switching to a raw food diet or trying homeopathy. If there is an exchange of information, with people reporting cures, then they have more power. However, if it becomes a bunch of people lamenting their fate, that closes the door on health and, a question I often ask myself, what happens if a person in this club gets better? Lose your membership?
Love, Tolerance and Understanding
Instead of trying to wipe people who are different from us off the face of the earth, why can’t we just reach out and understand their point of view? In the grand scheme of things, despite what is usually reported, I believe that most people are peace-loving and willing to take into account the beliefs of others. We only hear the news about the hard core extremists in these various groups and then we tend to have an unbalanced view of the world in general.
The populations of many countries have become so fear-based because of what is happening in their individual lives, that they actually vote for fear-based leaders who intend to drive them into war: they vote for people who come from of an energy similar to yours. own. Therefore, people who think are equal to them. In fact, if any politician dares to mention peace or talk to ‘the enemy’, they are branded as weak or traitors, when in reality they are the ones trying to improve our lives. Somehow we are seeing ‘war talk’ as strong and ‘peace talk’ as weak. How strange is that!
I always remember my grandmother freaking out when she found out that a black family was moving next door. At that time in Bristol there were very few black families in the area and Nanna had only seen black people on television. Such were the times! A few months after the family moved in, Nanna had nothing but praise for them. That winter had been extremely harsh with heavy snowfall and she told me that when the man next to her cleaned her own steps, he cleaned hers too; no one had ever done that for her before. She treated her as if she had treated her own mother. All it took was familiarity and a little communication and fear went out the window. On top of that, my closest friend at the time was Jamaican, so she had firsthand experience of our similarities, rather than our differences.
In conclusion
I think it’s human nature to communicate and collaborate with people who are like us, but what many people see as ‘like us’ boils down to very superficial characteristics. I remember my Jamaican friend’s sister was very upset. She had been the only black woman in his company and then another black woman was hired. They were automatically put to work together because they were both black and obviously had a lot in common, so the employer thought! The truth was that they had nothing in common, they did not come from the same country and they actively hated each other. It is always a mistake to assume anything on a purely superficial basis.
I consider myself very lucky to have had a father who was open minded, who was able to look beyond the surface and see the person inside. I remember when he invited a stranger to the house, who turned out to be the local homeless man. What Dad had seen was this man’s camera, and he saw beyond the poverty and homelessness to the photographer inside. They had a great conversation about photography.
I have many friends who are members of a variety of the aforementioned clubs and each one of them has taught me a lot about different cultures and lifestyles and have enriched my life in the process. I encourage anyone to strike up a conversation with someone who doesn’t look like them. You’ll be surprised at exactly how much they have in common!
No Comment