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How to be a human

Life is weird. We do things which may not be what we want, what we are good at or what we like. We have to work, study, earn a living. Fair enough.

But I argue that in these modern times, we don’t even do things that we, as humans, are designed for or are natural at! In short, we may have lost the art of being a human. 

Photo by Jason Murphy on Unsplash

In a previous blog, I defined simple life as “the life that you need to live life in its most essential”. By that I meant de-cluttering your life, removing the inessential and doing tasks of highest quality.

In this blog, I cover what humans are designed for, what we are natural at.

This list is quite simple. We are designed to:

  • look for food,
  • eat,
  • eliminate waste,
  • move,
  • lift,
  • reproduce,
  • think,
  • interact socially, and
  • rest e.g. sleep, taking time off.

The simple things. And nothing is to be done in excess, all in moderation.

If we do these, and do these well (and in moderation), we are winning in life. As George Orwell eloquently puts it “..for man only stays human by preserving large patches of simplicity in his life”

Now, in modern day life, we do do these simple things but mostly on autopilot. We have dinner passively in front of the TV. We chase and crave yet detest sex. We think to the point of overthink. We city-dwellers, have certainly have no clue as to what looking for food entails.

If we focus on the things that comes naturally to us, if we realise that that’s all that what we are designed for, life becomes beautiful and easy.

In modern day life, we have forgotten this. My belief is that this is the number one cause of the stress, anxiety, depression and the lack of fulfilment we face.

The only way out is for the individual to go inwards and become grounded. To continue to quote Orwell, you must “preserve large patches of simplicity in your life” to really appreciate life. While engaging in any activity, we should always apply “…the same test: does this make me more human or less human?”

Does reading this article make you more human than spending time with your kids? Is having a zoom call from someone living in the other part of the world more human than greeting your neighbour? Is time spent alone meditating, resting or writing time “wasted”?

There are many ways to do have an easy life — a good resource I found is with this Ted talk given by Jon Jandai, a Thai farmer and founder of the Pun Pun Center:

For Jandai, an easy life means growing your own food, having a simple roof over your head, not buying new clothes every three months (or even three years), living in harmony with nature and a community of like-minded people and family. Living peacefully and gratefully.

This lifestyle may not be for all!

Growing your own food is an arduous task and finding a community of like minded people sounds easier than it is. You might also live in a geographical area where such a life isn’t tenable.

Fair enough, but there is more than one way to skin a cat!

Our goal is to simplify our lives, to do things we are designed for. This means engaging in activities that are natural to us.

Stay human, dear reader and spend more time in the real world.

Until next time!

Sukhi

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