Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back today and I want to talk about the fact that we’re all made from stardust. Isn’t that amazing? We all have the elements of iron, calcium, and magnesium in our bodies. We are literally the by-product of exploding stars.
Photo credit: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC-ND
That totally blows my mind.
That being said, we all are vastly unique at the same time. Just like snowflakes we all have our own makeup. Each one of us, even a set of twins, is different. I find this intriguing and it begs the question. If we’re all made up of the same elements how can we be so different?
Photo on Visualhunt
It’s our DNA. The unique way it’s arranged makes us different, and that’s true, but I’m wondering how many different combinations there can be. Well, I did a little digging and the best answer I could find without going into a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo is that there are seven billion people on the planet so there are four hundred and twenty billion different combinations. Wow.
Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that even though we’re all made up of the same elements we’re all vastly different. Each one of us. But we’re also the same. It’s mind-bending when you thing about it. What I’m trying to say is we’re connected. And that connection is what I’d like to focus on.
Photo on Visualhunt
Historically, we humans have been afraid of other humans who are different. People who have different skin color, different genders, different sexual orientations, and different ideologies. We need to stop ourselves for a second and instead of coming from a place of fear, we need to come from a place of love. That’s right. Love for our fellow man. We don’t all have to agree, but we do have to respect our differences while at the same time remember our similarities out number our differences. That is the only way we will be able to survive on this planet. You have to remember we continue to reproduce, but our planet does not and it doesn’t grow larger either.
Photo on Visual hunt
In order for our species to survive, we’ve got to take care of ourselves and our planet. We don’t have time for anything else. In a crisis, I’ve seen people come together and forget their differences and work together until the crisis is over. Why can’t we do that all the time? Why does there have to be a major disaster before we’ll work together? I think we should work on that. Don’t you?
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
Isn’t it amazing we can be unique but made of the same basic building blocks? We do need to remember this more and then our differences would blur! -Molly
You are so right, Molly! Thanks for stopping by!
This is such a wonderful way of putting it…
Awww….thanks! That’s so sweet! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
So true Lisa, we have more in common than we have differences and those differences are usually based on socially contrived constructs. I agree there is definitely more work to be done!
You are so right, Snuffy! And it’s so sad that we’ve created such division among groups ourselves. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I agree, Lisa. I give much thought to these topics. I wonder if we’ve evolved too quickly in some ways such that our tribal nature gets in the way of global love and acceptance. I think we can do this person to person, but that fear response is so powerful! I fear we’ll need millennia to really change. But, I comfort myself in recognizing that we have the capability to overcome that primal fears with the very organ that’s messing with us and thinking we need the fear response more than the love response. It’s just the will and incentive to use it. I’d like to meet the person or persons who can design a system where goodness is encouraged–where war-like thoughts are actually discouraged and where ego or a focus on self and power over others is seen as bad rather than good. I think small communities can achieve this with lots of transparency and person to person connection–but globally we have a very long way to go.
That’s not to say it isn’t possible nor something we should work towards, but we do have to recognize where we’re starting from so we can put our energy towards changing our own minds and mindsets first. That’s no small task– but I hope to keep on that journey.
You are so right, Angela! It is no small task, but even so, I think it’s worth pursuing. It’s time we were good to each other, but as a good friend once told me. When there are angry young men, there will always be war. And I think it’s very sad, but there’s a lot of truth to that statement.
I read a book, Indian Boyhood, that said essentially the same thing. The young men hungered for conflict to prove themselves. Makes me wonder how we can set up a different kind of challenge that is actually good for the world.
Yes. If we could come up with something that’d be great!
Most types of discrimination come from fear. The more open and interrelated our society becomes, the more accepting it will be! My late father used to say that as races intermarry, there will be less racism. How cool was he?
Your father sounds totally cool and wise beyond his years. I’ve heard and I don’t remember where I heard it so take it with a grain of salt, but within the next couple of generations white skin will be rare, we’re all going to have darker skin because of inter-racial relationships. I think that’s amazing and we’re moving in the right direction. 🙂
What a great question – “why does there have to be a major disaster before we’ll work together?” What a waste of energy it is to dislike each other because of our differences – if only we could use that energy to work together instead, what would the world be like then? I love this post, thanks Lisa.
You’re welcome, Julie! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
what lovely thoughts! And very sobering in our current world
Yes! You are so right. Thanks for stopping by, Fiona!
Yes I think we need to work on that, it is so important to be open-minded and respectful.
Thanks for stopping by, Kiara and sharing your thoughts! 🙂
Wonderful sentiments Lisa. You know I get so annoyed when people focus on differences between us. And here I am mainly thinking of certain religious groups. We have so much more in common than not. Thanks for the reminder
I hear you, Denzil. I didn’t want to call out religious groups because I didn’t want to offend anyone, but you are so right. Some of these religious groups are the worst offenders and to be honest, I don’t think God would want that. I think he’d want us all to get along and treat each other with respect even if we don’t agree. I probably should get off my soap box now. Thanks for stopping by Denzil! I appreciate it!
Well said!
Awww…thanks, Cynthia!
Stunning post Lisa, well done
Thank you! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Yes, it would be nice if we all could respond at our best at all times. Fun fact: I did one of those DNA tests and I’m not made of stardust. It’s mostly Cheetos dust and powdered sugar.
LOL! You crack me up, Phil. I guess the old saying “You are what you eat is true!” 😉 Thanks for stopping by!