Lately, I’ve been a traveler. By traveler, I mean that I have been taking a trip or two a month to see things that I do not see every day. Expanding horizons is humbling, and personally, I know I have thought plenty about how vast our humanity is from these recent experiences.

I have always had the mindset that my existence is so small from the perspective of our universe; however, I know that I am an important factor in the way that the universe revolves, along with every other person, animal, ecosystem or molecule in the air that we breathe. 

I just took a trip to Pittsburgh for a birthday. On the second day of the trip, I visited the Carnegie Museums of Art & Natural History. While walking through the museums, I saw dinosaur fossils, ancient sculptures, extinct international animal remains, clay pots from 33 million years ago and many other jaw-dropping sights.

I was utterly inspired by the number of things that came before me. I looked at the creatures from the Cretaceous period, and I was mesmerized by the thought that there have been trillions of experiences before humans ever existed. Then, I thought about the fact that humans have only existed for roughly 4 million years. 

Oral language is half the age of human existence. Not that long ago, compared to Earth’s age, did people learn to communicate. In that time, we have learned how to love, support and, unfortunately, hate.

I believe that humans are naturally and instinctively selfish. After all, humans have a long history of fearing for their lives for many different reasons. Due to this, that fear has been instilled inside of us for different reasons than before. Now, we act out of emotion rather than factual rationality. 

Selfishness has led us to making decisions that did not benefit nor encourage the outlook that we all should have, which is love and appreciation for all that we are and all that we came from. I have always resonated with the poem titled, “I’m a mosaic of everyone I’ve ever met” by The Union International. The poem describes the feeling of being one with all that we have come from, loved and wanted. No matter who you are, you are a collage of your own life that lived before you. 

During trying times where it seems like hatred is the most notable emotion that we experience, it is important to understand that without love, we could not have hate. Love for life, others and experiences gives us the opportunity to hate. Hate is not linear; what we hate, we actually love. We just might not know it yet. 

The opportunity to push forward and recognize that all people are equally valuable people, all animals have emotions and feel pain, all trees grow and breathe, and all things must live and die is a privilege. The privilege to be surrounded by so much life and breathe the same air that floats around the planet is astounding, and, often, I wish people could understand it in that way. 

What an honor it is to wake up and look at the same sky that 8 billion other people are looking at. We live our lives wanting the same thing: equality. 

Regardless of who you are, you are eternally etched into the earthly ground that we walk every day. Your footprints are a part of the same mosaic that you came from and what will come from you. 

Everybody always says, “Look at the bigger picture,” when it comes to global events or human interactions, but what if the pictures we are supposed to be looking at are of ourselves? Each person has an energy that is irreplaceable for another’s. We give and we get. We take and we lose. Mirrors exist for a reason, both literally and figuratively. Take a moment to reflect on how you can make a difference.

We are all for one, and we are one for all. 

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