Thursday, September 18, 2025

Common Humanity

I spent quite a few hours doing homework on Saturday. 

I watched a lot of videos and took a lot of notes and completed one assignment that’s due in week seven. 

It’s currently week three. 

 

The assignment was to examine an extensive list of values 

And to identify our top value in life and work. 

 

After considering the values of

Authenticity,

Making a difference,

Well-being,

Spirituality, and 

Grace,

I realized that none of them felt right. 

 

Then I saw the space to write one in, 

And I thought:

Common humanity. 

And then I wrote: 

 

“My most important value, though not listed in Brene Brown’s values list, is common humanity. Common humanity recognizes that all people share the same inherent dignity, worth, and value. It sees others as fundamentally connected to ourselves and  acknowledges both strengths and struggles as universal. Common humanity responds to others with empathy, fairness, and compassion, and realizes and accepts that we are all on this journey together, sharing the human experience in joys, sorrows, celebrations, sufferings, accomplishments, and imperfections.

 

Common humanity is important to me because it reminds me that we’re all human, and I believe that humanity was created good. We’re all doing our best to survive, even when that best takes on many different forms and expressions. I may not always agree with what someone else does—in fact, I may vehemently disagree with one’s morals, values, attitudes, and actions—but, in the end, we are all human and our humanity ties us together at our core.

 

Common humanity informs my leadership approach in that I want everyone to be the best versions of themselves possible, and so I lead others to that effect. When I lead those with differences that I find challenging, I remind myself of common humanity and remember that there is goodness in that person, too—even when I have to look really, really hard to find it.”

 

May we each remember common humanity today. 

And even when it’s hard,

May we allow common humanity to love. 

 

Amen. 

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