I See You—As a Wonder and a Miracle

We are highly complex and universally connected human beings

Welcome to Tuesdays with Doctor G. where I am continuing a series entitled The Soulcial Revolution, a philosophy of life built for the modern world. The underlying principle of the revolution is learning to integrate the complexity of life in five areas: self, spirituality, people, the planet, and the cosmos.

In this post we answer the question: What does it mean to integrate the complexity of people?

Introduction

“I see you.”

I was moved the first time I heard this greeting. It is how Neytiri welcomed JakeSully in the movie Avatar. It is a moment of deep intimacy despite the gaping differences between them—she is a Na’vi, he is a human being.

Yet Neytiri’s acceptance of JakeSully is personal, absolute, and wholly welcoming. She bridges every facet that would divide them, and that would separate her people from JakeSully’s.

I remember thinking how much the world could change if we greeted every person with such an intentional embrace.

I see you.

Our Vision is Binary

Unfortunately, we have been taught to see people in binary terms—good vs. evil, saved vs. sinner, us vs. them. Whether the divide is ethnic or economic, racial or political, there is always a palpable distance between different groups of people.

The current political climate in the U.S. is but one permutation. There are only two options—the morally correct way or Satan’s way! Unfortunately, this is how both sides regard the other. The impasse is automatic and the visceral dislike for “those people” makes true communication or compassion impossible.

But this is a profound misunderstanding of the magnificent complexity of our human nature. For starters, we are not born as sinful human creatures. That is a simplistic idea of pre-modern and pre-scientific minds.

Instead, we are deeply layered and multifaceted beings. Nothing about our makeup is simple: not the growth of our fingernails, the path to our beliefs, nor the casting of our votes.

When we learn to see people in their full, wondrous, and irreducible humanity, we have access to a different way of relating, one where grace, love, and patience can blossom in previously impossible places.

But let me be clear, embracing a person’s complexity does not mean excusing harmful behavior. There are cultural norms and laws to guard against that. And when those fail, we can turn to protests as well!

Here is one final implication of affirming the unfathomable humanity of every person.

There is no us vs. them.

We are one human race aboard the U.S.S. Eden as it hurtles through space at cosmic speed. We have a responsibility to take care of each other—despite our natural inclinations to fracture.

Indeed, wars are beneath our greatness as human beings.

We Are Connected

In The Wedding Effect, I described the one song that pulses through the cosmos—the uni-verse. It is a symphony of infinite love, infinite connection, and infinite complexity. This isn’t mere poetry. Our DNA, biochemistry, and shared human experience confirm this integral link.

We are bound together, physically and metaphysically.

One of the beautiful storylines of Lost was how each character’s choices rippled across time, distance, even death—shaping lives in ways they could never see or understand. Those fifteen interconnected figures served as a microcosm for what happens on a global scale.

Thus, every purchase I make, every Netflix show I stream, every kind word I speak contributes to the world we all inhabit. We are creating the shared reality in which we move and have our being, one choice at a time.

An Invitation to Another Lens

This method of seeing people envelopes all identities, ideologies, and divisions that give the appearance of a world that is splitting apart at the seams. Yes, we have serious issues to tackle. However, only sensational headlines get amplified and all the good, noble, and courageous actions that we could celebrate get excluded.

My invitation, is that:

1. We would recognize the human grandeur of every individual—whether on the freeway, our newsfeed, or the voting booth.

2. We would see every person as beloved, complex, and worthy in their humanity without needing to resort to metaphysics.

3. We would recognize that our choices, though seemingly insignificant, have an outsized impact on people and the world that we create.

4. We would not live as isolated or divided creatures, but as members of one tightly connected human race.

I see you dear reader, as a miracle and a wonder. And I am trying to see everyone else in the same way and live according to that principle.

Til next time when I answer the question: What does it mean to integrate the complexity of the planet?

Gustavo