Diversities and Similarities

    Recently, a book series about our Earth written by “National Geographic” intrigues me. When reading, I have one thought in particular: we humans are so alike, and yet so unalike.

    Diversity gives our lives meanings. We differ in many things. When the humid monsoons are blowing in India in June, the outback region of mainland Australia remains very dry, and temperatures can reach 46 degrees! When a Chinese is using chopsticks to pick up a wonton, a European is drinking from a wine bottle and using a knife to cut up a steak. When an Australian is sitting in his garden watching his roses, an Eskimos huddled in an igloo, feeling warmth in their hearts. When Muslims are pacing around their holy Kaaba, Christians are praying inside a church, hoping that God can redeem their sins. Diversity thereby has great significance. It is due to diversity that we can thrive on planet Earth. It is due to diversity that we find interests in our lives. It is due to diversity that we can now have a world perspective that makes us feel good on our species. It is due to diversity, that we have the courage to explore the unknown and to discover new things.

    Many cultures and civilizations exist at the same time on this planet today, and each has its own uniqueness. Yet, among the diversity that our cultures create, there are some basic instincts of our human race that stay detached no matter how the world changes. Those instincts are the origins of our identities as human beings on the whole. One important aspect is that we all love life and nature. From the exciting 4-days carnivals in Brazil, to the celebration of the finished region of Nunavut in far northern Canada that gives the local Inuit people new hope; from the lively hula dances performed by the Hawaiians, to the distinctive haka war dances of the Maori people in New Zealand; from the support of the Yanomami people of the Amazon rainforest to protect their homelands, to the Aboriginal Australians whose words ring on the plains that they inhabit: “If you respect the land, then you will feel the land.”; from the many world organizations bound to guard our ecosystems, to governments that are determined to revive their once lush natural lands. No matter what race you belong, what skin color you have, what language you speak, what religion you believe in, we have many similarities, humanity is in us all.

    Differences and similarities are what shape our world and our human race as a whole. They are like two forces, pushing us, yet holding us back together. In this fast-changing world, many people have neglected the importance of these two words on humanity. Yet, without them, what is the exact meaning of our existence? Only by respecting each other's differences and developing our similarities as a whole, can we make our blue planet a more serene place to live.