Thinking Beyond Inclusion and Exclusion

Today, I was thinking about inclusion.

Of course, one cannot hover over the idea of inclusion for very long before the mind drifts to exclusion. Isn’t it odd how we give meaning to one term, by comparing it to another?

Inclusive and exclusive.

Many of us, at different times in our life, have felt one or the other (or both at the same time!). I don’t know about you guys, but for me, inclusive feels really good. Sometimes when I am excluded, it hurts my feelings – or on a bigger level, makes me feel bad about myself, or doubt my self-worth.

I like to feel like I belong.  I use my fellow human beings as mirrors to give meaning to my belonging. I use my fellow human beings to determine my self-worth. I constantly compare myself to others.

I am flawed in this type of thinking.

This type of thinking allows me to assign ‘less-than’ and ‘greater-than’. I don’t like to see myself, or my friends/peers/strangers, as less-than or greater-than. Why can’t there be some ‘universality’ in the way I view myself and others?

Why do I compare?

Some of the oldest philosophies would direct me to ‘nature’ for the answers I seek. So, to nature I head.

I evaluate the human condition in its most basic forms. I throw out all issues of diversity and post-modern thought and strip it down.

For all conditions I can think of, I am able to place them upon a spectrum and…compare.

….. young<—–> old

…..birth <—–> death

…..man<—–>woman

…..illness<—–>health

…..happy<—–>sad

…..rich<—–>poor

Comparisons. They all involve comparisons.

I ponder over this and slowly, a smile spreads across my face as I hear, in my mind, the voice of a previous professor… He loved to tell me (and tell me ALL the time), “Kelly, you keep your mind entertained with the smallest of thoughts. Think big.”

I think big. As big as I know how…

…..human being

I can put the condition of humanity on a spectrum, but I cannot put a human being on one. I cannot make a point less than human. I cannot compare.

The human being has no comparison because collectively, we are one. To move beyond the issues of inclusion and exclusion, we must learn to be, to live, to love, as a collective whole.

Fuck me. That’s a beautiful thought.