Remember the day you were born? If you could remember back to that day, what do you think were the first words that were uttered as you found your way into this world? I would bet my last dollar (that for most people) it would be three little words. “It’s a girl” “It’s a boy” Just those three little words. Nothing more would need to be stated, for in those three little words lay all that there is of our species. Never once would the first words uttered about your existence be things like “it’s a homosexual”, “ It’s a Christian Fundamentalist Reformist “, “It’s a Liberal/Conservative”, “ It’s a Black/Mexican/Chinese/White/Caucasian /Indigenous person” “It’s an illegal alien with two children and no husband sponging off my hard earned tax dollars wanting free health care and schooling” “It’s a 1 percent-er” “ It’s a ninty-nine percent-er… those (and many, many, MANY more), labels come later. You know the ones. The ones that we as humans put on each other. The ones that make us all see each other as this or that, allow us to hate, to begin a life of struggles to be “equal” with everyone else. The ones that have created pages upon pages of laws/books of philosophy, ideas of existence and so on to show us we are equal (or not). The ones that we think help us to understand each other (and ourselves) so much better, but more often than not stifle us as a species. The ones that force us to waste our time on such small minded thoughts when we could be exploring the universe, seeking out cures, understanding our inner minds and all we could un-tap within them. But instead we are worried about whom one is sleeping with, whom one is praying to, whom one is voting for. Instead we are wasting our time in the constant struggle to become, to be recognized as, and to have…equal/equality. But the strange thing is… we already are, and when you came into this world, the only thing that anyone said was if you were a boy or a girl (sometimes even less.. you just need to know they were born), and for at least those few very first minutes, there was no thought of anything else. There were no judgments. There was not classifying, no burdening of labels and no segregating of thoughts. You just were and that was enough, (and in fact for those first few moments in your small little existence, you made everyone around you very happy). So why as time goes on do we (all of us) allow this to happen? Why do we set ourselves up to need to struggle in life? Why do we not fight to maintain the euphoria of our births? Why can’t we just remember back to those first few minutes and understand we are all equal, all the same? Perhaps it is because we can’t remember our birth, as generally humans can’t remember much before their first birthday other than fuzzy bits and pieces of half jumbled up ideas of memories of that time. We can’t remember back to the time when we did not have to worry about such things, because then our minds were really free. We only begin to really remember things when we begin to see things in terms of all the labels that humans put on everything, and in some ways it is understandable we label all things, for how hard would it be for us to understand anything if we did not have a basis to begin an assessment? Then again, if we could remember back to that time, maybe our understanding (or lack there of) of the labels we now use and how they limit us all would help us to make a change. Maybe we could see we are wasting our time, trying so hard to fight to be equal to others. Because no matter whom you are, not matter what status you have, what sex your are, what colour, what creed, what political affiliation, what thought you have about existence, whom you choose to have sex with (or not)… ALL of us are less equal (in the labels) of someone else’s eyes…. ALL of us. So why not remember that the next time you decide to say we are not equal, when you stand up for the legislation to make us so, why not laugh and scoff at the human need to put in writing what was always ours to begin with. The next time a religion, a political idea, a group says that we need to fight for (or against) something? Stand up for real equality, not just equality of labels. Understand we squandered away our equality, sold it down the river. And all for a label to feel we belong. It’s a boy, It’s a girl. Equality is so simple, if you really want it to be. It is human thought that makes it complicated. Photo: Jason Decartes Taylor
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Remember the day you were born?

If you could remember back to that day, what do you think were the first words that were uttered as you found your way into this world? I would bet my last dollar (that for most people) it would be three little words.

“It’s a girl”
“It’s a boy”

Just those three little words. Nothing more would need to be stated, for in those three little words lay all that there is of our species. Never once would the first words uttered about your existence be things like “it’s a homosexual”, “ It’s a Christian Fundamentalist Reformist “, “It’s a Liberal/Conservative”, “ It’s a Black/Mexican/Chinese/White/Caucasian /Indigenous person” “It’s an illegal alien with two children and no husband sponging off my hard earned tax dollars wanting free health care and schooling” “It’s a 1 percent-er” “ It’s a ninty-nine percent-er… those (and many, many, MANY more), labels come later.

You know the ones. The ones that we as humans put on each other. The ones that make us all see each other as this or that, allow us to hate, to begin a life of struggles to be “equal” with everyone else. The ones that have created pages upon pages of laws/books of philosophy, ideas of existence and so on to show us we are equal (or not). The ones that we think help us to understand each other (and ourselves) so much better, but more often than not stifle us as a species. The ones that force us to waste our time on such small minded thoughts when we could be exploring the universe, seeking out cures, understanding our inner minds and all we could un-tap within them.

But instead we are worried about whom one is sleeping with, whom one is praying to, whom one is voting for. Instead we are wasting our time in the constant struggle to become, to be recognized as, and to have…equal/equality.

But the strange thing is… we already are, and when you came into this world, the only thing that anyone said was if you were a boy or a girl (sometimes even less.. you just need to know they were born), and for at least those few very first minutes, there was no thought of anything else. There were no judgments. There was not classifying, no burdening of labels and no segregating of thoughts. You just were and that was enough, (and in fact for those first few moments in your small little existence, you made everyone around you very happy).

So why as time goes on do we (all of us) allow this to happen? Why do we set ourselves up to need to struggle in life? Why do we not fight to maintain the euphoria of our births? Why can’t we just remember back to those first few minutes and understand we are all equal, all the same?

Perhaps it is because we can’t remember our birth, as generally humans can’t remember much before their first birthday other than fuzzy bits and pieces of half jumbled up ideas of memories of that time. We can’t remember back to the time when we did not have to worry about such things, because then our minds were really free. We only begin to really remember things when we begin to see things in terms of all the labels that humans put on everything, and in some ways it is understandable we label all things, for how hard would it be for us to understand anything if we did not have a basis to begin an assessment?

Then again, if we could remember back to that time, maybe our understanding (or lack there of) of the labels we now use and how they limit us all would help us to make a change. Maybe we could see we are wasting our time, trying so hard to fight to be equal to others.

Because no matter whom you are, not matter what status you have, what sex your are, what colour, what creed, what political affiliation, what thought you have about existence, whom you choose to have sex with (or not)… ALL of us are less equal (in the labels) of someone else’s eyes…. ALL of us.

So why not remember that the next time you decide to say we are not equal, when you stand up for the legislation to make us so, why not laugh and scoff at the human need to put in writing what was always ours to begin with. The next time a religion, a political idea, a group says that we need to fight for (or against) something? Stand up for real equality, not just equality of labels. Understand we squandered away our equality, sold it down the river. And all for a label to feel we belong.

It’s a boy, It’s a girl.

Equality is so simple, if you really want it to be. It is human thought that makes it complicated.


Photo: Jason Decartes Taylor