And Now For Something Completely Different…

Well its over.

Or it has just begun…again.

However you choose to look at the political events of the last few days (weeks, months, years, lifetimes) at least for now the phone calls, dinner-time doorbell ringers, spam emails, and television commercials are over.

At least for a while.  

And now we exist in that somewhat vacuous state, like the day after Christmas, everyone has that faint zombie-like shuffle to their movements and its hard to look anyone in the eye.

So I just thought maybe, for one day, we could come together around this new post-modern tribal fire called the internet and warm ourselves to the soft electric glow of our combined computer screens and all list some of the things that we have in common. The universal truths, if you will, of life in this particular location on the planet Earth, because after the constant barrage of negativity and divisive language taking some time to build bridges of reconciliation maybe the only way we’re all gonna make it through these crazy days.

And so without further ado, here is my list of things we all have in common…

  1. Everyone needs a hug
  2. No one was really happy or satisfied with the ending of LOST.
  3. Our ideals are not as important as our relationships.
  4. On some level we know for a fact that we have no idea what the hell is going on and that truth scares us to death.
  5. We all have secrets.
  6.  No matter our age when we get a card in the mail, we’re disappointed when there’s no money in it.
  7. Although the levels may vary, we all are excited about change.
  8. Although the levels may vary, we all hate change.
  9. We all say we want to listen to others problems, but most of us just want to be heard.
  10. Paper cuts suck.
  11. We all want Bigfoot to be real.
  12. We judge others based on the fears we have of our own shortcomings.
  13. Everyone at least once in their life has held a banana to their head like a phone.
  14. Respect has to be earned, although it would be nice if it were freely given.
  15. We are usually way to hard on ourselves.
  16. We all want to be remembered for something.
  17. No one wants to be wrong.
  18. No one wants to look stupid.
  19. No one wants to be hurt.
  20. We all get it wrong.
  21. We all look stupid.
  22. We’ve all hurt someone.
  23. All attempts at profundity will immediately kill a conversation.
  24. Everyone thinks they look good in one particular pair of pants, and you don’t, you really don’t.
  25. We all poop.
  26. They highest compliment someone can give is that you made them think.
  27. Just because your conclusion was reached through deep thought and meditation, doesn’t make it deep.
  28. The less we know about something, the easier it is to hate it.
  29. Everyone deserves to be loved.
  30. You are everyone.

So what say you? What are some of your universal truths? What if we all made a commitment over the next four years to seek out those areas of commonality and connection with others instead of focusing on the things that make us different?

“This world of ours... must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.”

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Godspeed.

Erik Ewing is the Program Director for The Authenticity Project, you can contact Erik at TheAuthenticityProject@gmail.com

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