Dealing With Seething Humanity

Dealing With Seething Humanity

One of the powerful things that happen as we move into our natural lives is that we find we like people. Not the idea of people, but actual people. I know, it’s nutty.

So often when we are in a crowd; at a concert, or the grocery store, or on the highway or bus, we feel overwhelmed, or annoyed, or crushed, or we feel energized and awash in humanity, but we don’t see individuals, we only see people.

They seem to take up our space, or inconvenience us, or get in our way, or slow us down. We get so mad.

Sometimes, we find ourselves thinking stuff like; people are cruel, inhuman jerks. People are so hateful, or murderous, or callous.

We feel afraid of people; they are terrorists,, or faceless corporations, or wicked nations, or evil doers bent on our  destruction.

Here’s the secret. Most people are pretty much like you and me. They want to do right, they want to do well. They work hard to make a living, they try to be kind. Just like us.

We have stuff, issues, topic, character defects, bad habits, all sorts of things that we are contending with, or actually working on solving, resolving, healing, or changing. We all need help from each other. Some of us are really good at some things, some of us are really good at other things. and when we pool our skills and talents and experience we have what we need. We support each other.

The more we move towards our natural life, the more we change out worry for peace, the more we relax, the more we release the chaos in our lives, the more we see people as persons.

We find ourselves in crowds, looking around at faces, not at a sea of people. We see individuals, we see their lives written on their faces, in their carriage, in their gait. We see pain, and joy, and sorrow. We feel compassion, and curiosity, interest, and love. We feel supportive and generous.

We also understand that these people want to help us. Each of them has his or her own unique set of skills and talents, and we all like to do what we are good at. As we relax, we find the people we need to give us the help we need. We may find a new teacher, or someone who knows how to get rid of ants, or change that tire, or find a good place for a loved one to live.

Each of us shows everything about us all the time. Did you know that? With our faces, with how we hold our shoulders, how we turn out our feet, the physical issues we have, the way we walk, it all says what’s up with us, where we’ve come from, what we are like, how we feel. It’s freaky. We think all that stuff is secret, but it’s just right out there.

As we move deeper into our natural lives, we can comprehend what we are seeing as we look at people. We see their stories, and know their history. We may not know the details, but we know the gist. And we feel compassion. We have learned to release our resentments, and so we find ourselves focused on serving the good for all sentient beings, not just our family, not just our communities, but everybody. Isn’t that nice?

How have I changed from seeing people as hell, to recognizing and caring for us all?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 07152013