It’s said that humans always want to establish a hierarchy.

When we meet, we determine who is above and who is below. It’s all fluid and depends on circumstance, but sometimes it can be quite firm and permanent. And we can’t control it. It is like some sort of very fast subroutine running below the treshold of consciousness. Two people meet, swoosh, status is immediately negotiated.

And the lengths we go to to change our status..

Heck, it can even explain racism. What easier way to feel better about ourselves if we find reasons to imagine us to be better, our status to be higher, than the millions of members of another human race.

It can also explain sexism. It’s such a nice tool to explain things..

However I want to reject it.

I believe we are capable of rejecting it. Of disengaging that subroutine. Of finding another way to live. Of leading a life without the constant negotiation of our standing in hierarchies.

It’s possible, but perhaps it takes a lot of time to make the switch. (Or maybe it’s very fast. Sometimes gread deeds just take a moment of insight.)

It’s just a matter of switching from a vertical view of the world to a horizontal view of the world.

We all walk not up or down, but we walk ahead, each one towards our own goals. Following our own needs and interests. And everyone else does the same. They are walking next to us. Sometimes their path is parallel to ours, sometimes perpendicular. Or it’s any other angle. Not above us. Not below us. Just next to us.

Sure.. One has a great body. Another has a million Euros. Yet another drives a Porsche. And another saved someones life. Yet another has a great sense of humor.

We’re all in this together. This life thing. It doesn’t matter that we arrive fastest at some destination, because there is no destination. It’s just life.

But even if we define a goal, say, buying a house. Or having a child.

So some of us will get there sooner. Others will get there later. Some already start there. Others never make it. And many don’t care about that goal at all.

Who cares, right? It’s just life. Our life. Their life. We’re all in this mess, for ourselves but also for each other. We can meet and we can cooperate. We can keep each other company. We can heal each other and build the future together. We can even compete. As long as we don’t make it our default mode of being.

I’ll finish with a nice quote by Albert Camus that hits a similar note:

Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

P.S.: Camus’ book “The Stranger” is one of my favorite books of all time. I highly recommend it.