"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."
I am a part of society. I am a part of humanity. Yes, it is obvious realization, but it is a statement that I have yet to fully grasp. And to be quite honest, I don't think I ever will. What does it mean to rise to the broader concern of all humanity? How do I do that? Why does it matter?
More than ever, it is dangerously easy to ignore the cries and struggles of humanity. It's more confortable to focus on my day to day than something happening across the world. It's not my problem, not my convcition, and I'm pretty sure someone else will take care of it.
Right?
For a long time, I've struggled to empathize with the concerns of others, especially when their issues felt so distant. The weight of the world was too heavy, so I decided to ignore it all together. As I distanced myself from the struggles plaguing humanity, I found myself distant from life itself. Everything was empty. Everything was vain.
See, you can't pick and choose which parts of life you want to indulge in. Atleast you can't without robbing yourself of life itself.
Life is many things— it's evolving, joyous, and painful— but it is not and will never be independent. So you can box yourself out from the problems of the world all you want, but with that you strip yourself of one of the greatest experiences— the experience of living.
Being an active part of your community and your world isn't a task for the few and chosen, and it isn't an option. With every breath you take you become more interconnected with the world around you. It's a burden we all bear, but the burden is lighter when we lift together.
MLK always seemed to know how to encompass everthing I feel into one beautiful sentence, and his words could not have been more timely. Our world is big and it is in the palm of our hands. Will you hold on tight and run with it? It is no secret that our society is at unrest. That means we should be at unrest too. There is no better time than the time you have now to look past your own situation.
We are society, too.
Note: The Words of MLK Jr: A Timely Study is an ongoing series of posts. Stay tuned!
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