Do you ever get the itch to appreciate the whole human race in its widest variety? If the world is one big dance floor, we’ve all got upwards of eight billion other folks pulsating upon it at any one time.

One could say that we’re all unique and different. Or one could say that we’re all the same. Both are correct.

What may be more important is how one approaches that cosmic conundrum. The belief system that forms the view. How one deals with it, so to speak.

The folks who deny that we’re all the same can be too quick to divide us. But we can only be happy acknowledging our similarity if we honor, respect, and celebrate the differences between us. Become enchanted with the whole human family, if you will.

Where might one choose to ponder this? An international airport will do quite nicely. Post yourself up at one of the big crossroads of the world and watch tout le monde saunter by. Admittedly, it’s folks who have reason or resources to travel, but a good cross-section of the world’s people, nonetheless.

As they saunter, ask yourself: How many of these travelers are a lot like me? Sure, you’ll probably notice some similar seeming souls — folks roughly your age, build, background, style.

What you’ll also notice is that ‘your type’ is nothing more than a drop in the bucket in the vast swirling pool of people passing you. Literally, you are one-in-many-millions.

If any one of those folks were to perform the same thought experiment, they’d likely land upon a similar conclusion. We’ve all got our doppelgängers, yet most folks are different. How best can we, as a world, grapple with that?

Different is one thing, “better than” is another. When intolerance or supremacy get in the way, our human family is diminished.

I like to point people to Karl Popper’s paradox, which states that the only thing that cannot be tolerated by a civil society is intolerance.

Chloe Valdery comes at it from a deeper angle, pointing out that psychological insecurity is at the root of supremacy. When a person is at peace with themself, difference becomes a source of curiosity rather than a threat.

She points out that this is a relational issue that starts with one’s relationship with self. Her work, The Theory of Enchantment, which I find to be a brilliant approach, “exists to fight supremacy at its roots.”

I spent the morning musing about such ideas at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris while waiting for a train back to Chenu after seeing my younger daughter off to the Bay Area. It’s hard to imagine a finer place to observe and appreciate the vast variety of humanity.

Enchantment indeed! Pair that with gratitude, and you’ve found the attitude to bring to the dancefloor of this vast party of a planet that we call home.

Enchantée jusqu’à la semaine prochaine — tour le meilleur!

M+

Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine