Us
Item No. 15
“We need to translate our interior into an exterior for others to view. And if we want to become us, chances are we need to combine our ideas somehow.As Merriam says, (the dictionary Merriam) ‘us’ is the objective case of we. It's you and me, or anyone being together. It's the absence of one person alone. It's the absence of anyone alone. The complete opposite of one solo individual, group, or a community. To be clear here, we’re not referring to the separate ‘us’... such as us against each other. We’re referring to us—the collective us. To be honest, it's always a little difficult, isn’t it, to be us? We show up on this planet alone, a mind or a soul in a body, depending on who you are and how you look at things. Either way, anytime we want to communicate with anyone else, we need to translate our interior into an exterior for others to view. And if we want to become us, chances are we need to combine our ideas somehow. This means that we complicate it to start with. That’s difficult, right? We have to work at that. The ‘us’ we list in the catalog this season, by the way, is us against all odds! The us—that is us humans. Our species. Humanity. Our human family. Our opportunity to remember that what we share in common is our humanity. Us—every—one of us. Us is in this season’s catalog as we seem always to be partitioning ourselves into groups, into camps and communities, nation states or other disparate us’. We thrive on an innate competitive spirit that shines well in things like the Olympics, but less well when we are disputing over territories or resources or (religious) ideals (See catalog entry: pew). We think that the collective US is in danger, even though there are other ways to operate. Consider our opportunity to cooperate, for example. (Even if we have to work at that a little.) (See Nuance.) Frank White reminds us in The Overview Effect, his collection of interviews with astronauts, whose perspectives shift when they see earth from the position of the stars, how small we are and how small our planet is. He reminds us that we are always ‘us’ as a species, no matter the boundaries or distances we see between us here. By the way, any great leader of ours will endeavor to bring the ‘us’ in us out. A great and noble leader will remind us of the potential within ourselves to be better when we work together. They’ll inspire us to do great things together—as us. That kind of leader will inspire each of us to give the best of ourselves as we form the collective us. “We chose to go to the moon, not because it was easy, but because it is hard,” John F. Kennedy said. Humanity is capable of really hard things (like a moon landing and like cooperating.) No one person could do that alone, but it becomes possible when we become us.
Well, us costs us our own ego. That is for sure.
Being us takes compromise. Understanding. A willingness to set aside some of our personal interests in order for the interests of the whole to take precedent. It costs us our own desire, perhaps, in some cases, in order for us to honor for the whole, in honor for more of us to thrive. We might not do it all ourselves, but rather invest in what each other does best. And let go of some of our shorter term interests, in honor of a goal that might serve to inspire more of us to activate our potential--to use our collective energy and skills.
The cost of a loss of us? A lot of grumpiness in the world. Loneliness, too. Missed opportunies. What are they? (We may never know, if we fail to become us.)
Other specifications:
To become us? A willingness to meet and discuss things. Second, a willingness to compromise a little (or a lot) depending. Third, a willingness for us to aspire to do great things together.