What is Human?
In light of recent developments, do we need to be reminded what it means?
Don’t like reading? Allow me to read it to you 👈
What is human? To gaze at the black of the sky and marvel at pinpricks of hopeful light, our souls’ desire lost in that moment to the wash of an invisible, ancient brush on a universal canvas. Dead and dying planets alive to our dreams; energy on a scale beyond our conscious understanding; tails of stray comets pulling our heads and hearts toward the unknown—our elemental natures. To look upon the mystery of nothingness, this barely explored gift-wrapped cosmos of astronomical potential, and believe in us. Larger than the estate of our minds, we think possible from improbable: “There. Now. Go.”
What is human? To question our internal mechanisms, the hows, the whys, the whats, and who for. Testing our load-bearing minds, circling blueprints for meaning, noting the possible purpose of our presence. Struck by the wonder of it all, open and naked to the truth of how our slippery psyches mingle in the bright and ancient dance halls of our lives. To live curiously, cat-like and open, freely and with no fear, going exactly where the inquiry takes us. Strange lands, undiscovered countries, unfamiliar neighborhoods—a lifetime of treading without first looking, stomping proudly with the bold and unerring confidence of a child.
What is human? To delight in the sound of another’s voice, to feel compelled to share with the world that divine feeling. To yearn, smiling for connection and the tickle of a spark arcing from one hand to another. First blush, the glow of skin, the warmth of recognition in the furnace of emotion to forge forward, together. Willingly tangled hearts melting with energy to power the unknown. Brave, bold, and accepting fully the many bumps and blemishes of love. Capable of touching faces without leaving fingerprints, a knowledge held between the pages of soft and hard.
What is human? To be a singular entity in an endless sea, bobbing with self-control, self-determination, and self-worth. A self of the self, with the right to say no and yes and I don’t believe you, tell me more. To exert human magnificence in the choices of our hearts, to walk to the edge of a large lake and throw a rock into its waters without fear of recrimination. To exist in the autonomy of the I. To thine own self be true and with the truth to own thy self. To say this is my life, my body, my choice. This is what I do, who I love, and how I am in the world. With the right to survive.
That is human.
Unless.
Unless you’re a woman, trans, queer, black, poor, or from any group deemed to oil the waters of a lake full of vindictive assholes. Then apparently you're not considered worthy of being bestowed the basic rights of a human. Then it's goodnight and good luck. Dream all you want, look at stars and pretty skies if you dare, but don’t think for a second that you own or control your mind, heart, or circumstance, and never your body.
*Sigh*
Human. Is anger. Is rage. Human is being lost and not knowing what to do. Human is feeling despair and loss and jaded and defeated. Human is to balance our natures delicately without tipping our pure potential into the pit of inhuman. Cry when the spigot of our heart is turned fully open by circumstance, pain, and hate. And grieve. Grieve when the world turns mean and injustice gets a point. But don’t let it consume you. Human is forever optimistic despite the ugliness of human.
Human is also deliciously, delightfully, gloriously, hard-wired with the instinct to fight. Oppressors don’t count on unpredictable human. Beautiful human. Magical human. All is not lost. Yet. We can't lose hope. Put the body that does not belong to you in places of visibility. If that’s too frightening, or think that even though it doesn’t affect you (it does1) you’d like to do something, support those who fight in any way you can. Use your art. Use your heart. Say something to save something.
Be human. Seriously, it's all we've got.
Yours in tiny thought,
Janeen2
This week’s amends…
“A library is many things. It's a place to go, to get in out of the rain. It's a place to go if you want to sit and think. But particularly it is a place where books live, and where you can get in touch with other people, and other thoughts, through books. If you want to find out about something, the information is in the reference books—the dictionaries, the encyclopedias, the atlases. If you like to be told a story, the library is the place to go. Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had. And when you are reading a book, you and the author are alone together—just the two of you. A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people—people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”
- E.B. White. From a letter to the children of Troy, 14th April 1971
Via Letters of Note
On Rotation: “Big White Cloud” by John Cale.
As always, you can find all the songs that have swum in The Stream here.
It’s called fashion. Look it up. The entire lookbook slideshow for Thom Browne Fall ‘22 can be found here
Thom Browne presented a concise, unwavering narrative: This collection is about New York as “an island of misfit toys” and the way people come to the city “to find themselves and to create themselves,” he said.
Via The Fox is Black
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Human Record Player. I don’t care how gimmicky it is, it’s a very fun concept. Scan the code here and spin like a record to play Weezer’s new single.
Did any of this spark a tiny thought of your own?
Beyond taking away the rights of your sisters, daughters, and gal pals, here’s another log to add to the fire: The end of Roe vs Wade has huge economic implications for male partners, too
I don’t know what to say about last week’s news. I started typing and this is what came out so this is what you get. I’m keenly aware of my naivety, but it is my belief in the capacity for humans to be good that keeps me going. And trust me, you can hold cold reality and naïve belief in the same hand and still carry on.