In Common Essay

When I hear the words ‘In Common’, the first thing that comes to mind is community. A community is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. Since the beginning of humankind, humans have been forming connections and making communities. These connections are powerful things, and they are easier to form if we have things in common; some sort of starting place to help guide us on the path to friendship and kinship. Having things in common has both advantages and complications, and humans have known this for hundreds of years. This is demonstrated by common sayings and proverbs. For example, the expression ‘great minds think alike but fools rarely differ’ indicates that conformity and like-mindedness isn’t always positive, although it can be sometimes, and that just because more than one person shares an idea doesn’t mean it is good. In fact, sometimes lots of people sharing the same thoughts without having contributions or opposition from someone with a differing view or understanding can be harmful. Furthermore, the proverb ‘birds of a feather flock together until the cat comes’ has existed in the English language since the 1500s. It illustrates that kindred people gravitate towards each other but when something poses a threat to an individual, the colour of feathers isn’t necessarily enough to keep people together. What may be best for the community can be overwritten by selfish desires or self-preservation. This shows that whilst having things in common is beneficial, we need diversity of both thought and character. However, if we are all different, how can we form communities, which are by definition groups of people with things in common? After all, we don’t all live in the same neighbourhood. Well the answer is quite simple. We are all humans and we all share one common trait – humanity. Humanity has two definitions – the first is human beings collectively. We are humanity. The second definition of humanity is the quality of being humane and having benevolence and compassion. We may not all possess this quality all the time, but we can and we should strive to. Many people do have this trait in common, and this is shown especially in our current time, where key workers are risking their own lives to serve others. If this isn’t kindness and compassion then I do not know what is. We should model our lives after these people who are working selflessly for others and, out of respect for them, we should all treat each other with the kindness and selflessness that these heroes are showing. They are heroes and we can be too. Because these aren’t superhumans. They have one key thing in common with us. Humanity.

 

by Emily

 

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