Ubuntu - I Am; because of You!
This new year 2018 is about the ascension into our humanness, this year is about our need to experience the paring of humanity. This year is about relationships, co-operation and overcoming fear. I have been wanting to write about Ubuntu, for the longest time. Ubuntu is a traditional African philosophy and being South African it is close to my heart. Growing up during the apartheid era, I have come to embrace and learn the value of the meaning Ubuntu. It is also the perfect word to encompass 2018 and what this year has the potential to bring for each of us.
This is a beautiful definition of the word Ubuntu:
"My humanity is inextricably bound up in yours. I am human because I belong"
- Desmond Tutu
People are not people without each other, this is the lesson that 2018 brings. This year is about harmonizing and deepening our relationships with family, friends, in business and in our communities.
There exists a common bond between us as human beings and it is through this bond and our interactions with each other that we get to experience the deepest parts of our own humanity, because it is in the doing, giving and being vulnerable that we dive more deeply into our own essence.
We cannot practice Ubuntu without opening our hearts to share, to give and to receive. It is easier to give than to receive but one cannot be without the other.
Here is a beautiful video explanation of Ubuntu from Archbishop Desmond Tutu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg49mvZ2V5U
The 2 year (2+0+1+8 = 11 and 1+1=2) is about diplomacy, gentleness, compromise, adaptability and consideration. This might be a great year to enter into partnerships and if we keep the idea of Ubuntu behind those partnerships then we infuse them with the positive energy of what our partners might mean to us. "I am because we all are"
The lesson in the 2 year is also about being WILLING to co-operate within a team or towards a mutual goal. During the 2 year we must be aware of our need NOT to be overly critical of ourselves and others, the potential to fall into pessimism when things don't go according to our plans and to be aware of the ability to manipulate others and even ourselves in a way that is negative or sabotaging. Our sensitivities may also be heightened this year creating the potentiality of taking things too personally.
The 2 year is also about creativity and creative growth so this might be the year to learn that new dance, or start a new hobby , play a new instrument or join a painting class! This year is about balancing the feminine intuitive aspects of ourselves with the masculine logical (the yin and yang balance), it is in this harmonizing that we come back to the wholeness of who we are. It is through our creativity that we can often do this.
In this 2 year which is about connecting more deeply with others we inextricably practice Ubuntu because it is through our common bond as humans that we interact with each other and discover and learn about our own human qualities. I love this quote from Rumi that speaks about us being brave and courageous to put our selves out there and connect more deeply with those around us and express what is in our hearts to others. It takes vulnerability and that requires courage.
You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens
- Rumi
With Rumi in mind don't be afraid to open your heart to the unity that the 2 year brings and to the belonging that Ubuntu creates for us all.
In the Zulu words I have heard so often " Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu" - meaning:
""A person is a person through other people"
I wish you unity, community and belonging for 2018!
Warmly
Hemla