Life comes with no handbook, many would say. Life doesn’t come with a manual, but mother, others would say. As for me, I see life has a natural cycle. Life comes with its own nature. Life comes with a bunch of natural cycles and patterns that we can use to conceptualize a handbook.
Before I begin to elaborate more, I view humans as multidimensional. Yet, this essay is not discussing our nature from a dimensional perspective but from a linear perspective, since it’s easier to comprehend this from a linear standpoint first.
Natural Cycle as a Dynamic System of Life
We need a grounded point of view whenever we want to see a linear process. In every linear process, there should be a starting point and an endpoint. But when the starting point and the endpoint are the same, we are dealing with a cycling process.
When it comes to a cycle, it simply means that it’s a natural process that leads the movement from one to another point continuously, and an interruption in that cycle will lead to a crisis. This is why, according to Thomas Kuhn’s revolution process theory, there should be a crisis before revolution starts to give birth to a new paradigm. From this concept, we can also draw a similar concept of the natural cycle of life: birth, death, and rebirth. Not in a physical way but more in a psychological and metaphorical way.
Keep in mind that between the birth and death processes, there is a growth process that, at one point, will reach its peak and invite the crisis. Whenever there is a paradigm change, it means that there is a transformative energy to shift the standpoint. This is why the natural process of growth is in the form of a spiral, not fully cycling.
By having said that, being human means being in our humane natural cycle. So everything is naturally changing and transforming. We are moving from one point to another to form that paradigm shift. This is the reason why the natural cycle is not in a fixed sphere but in a dynamic one. Hence, our nature is also based on potential energy, not static energy. There’s a movement, there’s a shift, there’s a dance, and there’s a life.
Normal Cycle as a Fixed System of Life
When our natural processes are in static energy in the form of control, humans start to freeze the movement.This also means to freeze the change, the dance, and life itself. It’s when we start to be normal instead of being natural. When humans try to be normal, it means there should be normalcy to measure their normality. Having that concept in mind will lead humans to fit into the standard of normalcy. Then a question will arise. Who set the standard then?
From my point of view, it’s acceptance. Whose acceptance, then? The world’s acceptance is a plain answer. Since I can’t even clearly elaborate on who the world is, I have a clearer answer of the basic judgment for acceptance: sameness. This sameness sets the standard of normalcy and determines whether there is acceptance or not.
Being normal means being accepted. Being accepted means being the same. Being the same means being a prototype of a human being. Being a prototype means being in the same format of type. Being in the same format means being a standard. Through this standard, some people relate to each other and build connections with each other to construct a so-called society.
Similar nature or nurture
True relating builds on our similarity of nature as human beings, not on our standards of being. Based on our similarities, we may build a firm foundation for relating. But is it truly related to our innate compassion or only to a certain standard of acceptance? It is our job to clearly define it.
On the other side, our standard of ‘being’ is an artificial and temporary “similarity”. It is based on nurturing the same ‘being’. For example, nurturing goals may seem related. In this case, you will only relate as long as you have the same goal.
To this point, relating is no longer based on similarity but on sameness. When humans have the same goal, they will move in the same direction.
As I mentioned earlier, human nature is multidimensional: energetical, physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions that create intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal dynamics within the individual, collective, and universal spheres. So our nature is complex because it has multiple layers and dimensions. Our natural cycle also works on these complex forms. In this sense, we as human beings can relate to each other from many dimensions on every sphere. So relating to others should come naturally to us as human beings. But the fact is, many people ‘forget’ how to relate to others. Why is it?
A Disconnection of a Life Cycle
There are many ways to relate to others if we acknowledge our multidimensional nature and spheres. Based on these circumstances, ironically, the interruption or disconnection of this natural process of relating as human beings stems from dissecting our complexity into units by nurturing and focusing only on the sameness of the format of relating.
This format of relating based on sameness creates an eliteness in what is supposedly called a universal sphere. So in this case, when humans start to use this format, they start to degrade our complexity into units. Units that are based on sameness or normality. When normalcy is created, a standard is born. When a standard is born, there will be a hierarchy since standards are threshold based on vertical measurements. This is when a society starts to create ladders instead of bridges of connection.
Let’s say that we are trying to perform an orchestra in which we need to have a violin and harp that have similarities to work harmoniously. Both the violin and the harp have their own original sounds, and when they are in their original forms and play on the same note, they will create beautiful music naturally. So the keynote should be the same, not the sameness of the sound. The more instruments originally relate to and play on the same note, the more complex and beautiful the music they produce.
Functional and Dysfunctional Systems
Whenever there is a natural process, there is an interwoven system. When there is a system, the dichotomy is whether it is a functional system or a dysfunctional one. A functional system is when we create a system by orchestrating the original function of its units, not the sameness of its units. The more complex the system is, the more layered and dimensional the units are. Therefore, nurturing the sameness of the units and divorcing them from their originality and the complexity of a system will create an imbalanced process and dysfunction.
I believe this whole universe works as a systematic, dynamic movement. It is order and chaos. The system is order, and the chaos is the dynamic movement. Human nature is a part of this universe, just like planets, atoms, and photons. It has its own pattern for creating its dance with the universe.
Metaphorically speaking, a natural dance will flow more harmoniously and beautifully than an unnatural dance. Hence, when it comes to dancing with the universe, the keyword is flow, just like a river flows to the sea. It is not the normalcy of the river; it is its nature. It is the function of the river that contributes to its natural cycle of water, not the sameness of its landscape.
