A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Alaska…an amazing experience I will always remember. Yesterday, I was looking through my photos and found this bear trio, a mother and her two cubs. The mother was teaching her babies to catch salmon.
I remember observing them for a long time, noticing that the twin cubs shared many similar features, but were also subtly unique in physical qualities and personality.
I was reminded of the old adage about snowflakes…no two flakes are exactly alike. I’ve heard that’s true of humans as well. Despite the sheer number of us on the planet, no one is exactly like another. We each have our own special gifts, talents, personalities, and physical characteristics that make us distinct.
It’s our commonalities that connect us, but I suspect it’s our differences that offer us the opportunity to truly appreciate each other. Yet, it seems that our differences arouse our human suspicions and fears. And it’s our fears that trigger conflict…
Perhaps our human differences exist to provide an edge to facilitate growth and learning, as well as to make life interesting. Imagine if we were all exactly alike…what kind of world would that be? Quite bland and far less intriguing.
Our differences are a fact of life, so perhaps the better option is to honor our uniqueness, and even celebrate it. I suspect it's a path to peace and harmony.
I’m grateful to the bears for the inspiration…
(New photos on website Gallery: wandernature.com/new-photos)