Three great anchors provide the framework for our experience of life on earth.
They are the need for nourishment, bringing in new life to continue the species, and the bare fact of death. These three provide the underpinnings of the human condition.
Regarding nourishment: I refer, of course, to food and it calories. But also to water, which is a different form of nourishment. And to air, carrier for the oxygen our cells need to remain alive.
Think of how central fulfilling these needs are to cultures around the world and throughout history.
The traditional duties of the host are wrapped in this. And these traditions are considered sacrosanct in many places, even today. A host offers the protection of their roof. And then offers water and food.
Today’s western culture is food and water obsessed. Look at the cookbook shelves. But wait- there are also cooking shows, and cooking websites. And 40 different kinds of water.
In ecology, when it is said that a species makes its living, that refers to obtaining food. It is the same for us.
The specter of starvation is real.
As to bringing in life: Yes, this is sexual. And sex as a motivator is one of the most powerful on earth.
But this is more than that and is in a category by itself. It is the biological imperative, responsible for making the family the strongest social unit and the most enduring.
The patriarchy itself is bound to this dynamic. That is why it always seeks to control women and reproductive potential. But the holding of sacred space for pregnant women and new mothers transcends and pre-dates the patriarchy. The biological imperative is much stronger and wilder than any societal restrictions or power grabs.
The reverence in which we hold this process has nothing to do with the current attempts to restrict the reproductive freedom of women by demonizing and outlawing abortion.
Because of the powerful draw of sex and the often violent violations of females, abortion is and must remain a freely available option. And when the powers that be do restrict reproductive choice women get abortions anyhow. Just not safely. The result is carnage for the poor and short “vacations” for the rich
But the proponents of birth have no cause for alarm. People overwhelmingly still want to reproduce. Getting pregnant and bringing in new life will never go out of style. And the family will never stop being the central social unit.
I have not yet mentioned love, which is one of the most powerful forces in the world, and maybe the universe. But it is not an anchor in the way the three I am presenting as such. It transcends these three and permeates them.
Think of the way we speak of the dead: “She loved life so much!” Of course she did…
Speaking of death, just look at the arts, all of them. How many songs have death in them in some way? How many books?
And that does not touch the number of plays, movies, and TV shows. How many begin with the dead guy(or gal)? There is a reason for this.
The fact that we are limited permeates all meaning for humans.
Consider our rituals, from war to funerals to the passing of resources from one generation to the next.
Whether an infant dies at first breath or lives to be 110 years old, there will be an ending.
Knowing this colors everything we do and everything we think.
We have other genuine needs, such as shelter and medical care. But each of these is tangled up in one of these anchors.
One way to test this is to look at how many rituals, how many stories, how much art, and how much media is tied up in these three parts of life.
Also look at the level of refinement in response to each of these. When it comes to nourishment, we can survive on something boiled crammed into our mouths and swallowed. And yet we have table manners, formal feasts, and 1000 types of cheese.
And this is true quite universally. What time or culture did NOT have rituals and customs regarding food and water, birth and death?
All three of these anchors are true of every life form on the planet. But, so far, humans are the only ones thinking about them or discussing them.
If humans were somehow freed of these three anchors it is not possible to comprehend the ways in which all that we do would be transformed.
But, we would not really be human anymore.