“To become a human is an art” – Novalis (essay)

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Introduction: The essay was written two years ago for a philosophy competition. It reached regional level where most of the participants was two years older than me. I can proudly say that this is one of my best works! I did not have any plan how to write it and the ideas came out at the moment of writing. I could choose from variety of topics to write about but this one inspired me the most! I hope you like it!

To be a human and to be humane... What is the difference? Why do not most people realise it? Because they may be too skeptical and do not think it is useful to know something like that, or because they are too much involved in their simple "existence" - work, idleness, a hectic way of life, or a lack of time due to excessive watching serials and the intensive "social life" that gives us Facebook... you know, things such as that. To say honestly the thinking young people are rare today. Most of them are trying to make their way to the disco, getting drunk, invent a new insulting nickname for a classmate or even a teacher... because that is fun, isn't it? It is easier for them to blame the state for giving them these long, long four-point lessons, consisting of fifteen lines. What irony!

In theory, each of us is a human, but not everyone is humane. Not everyone has that sympathy for the weak, the desire for justice and responsiveness, that life and flame in the soul. Rather, I think things are going in this order: originally you are born a purely biological person, you live and exist as such, then you either become human or not, and finally if you do, you are already humane and soulful. The question immediately arises whether humanity is learning. Yes, it can be taught first and foremost by the family, as well as by teachers, books, environments, or even our own experiences. Everything affects us. The problem is that an increasing number of people choose the easy way, namely that of simple existence. Yes, they may have goals, work for example, but does not it all sound monotonous and simple? Do they think about the things of life, the world around them, the universe, the different societies and their way of life, the wretched people wandering in the streets without a shelter, or the poor grandmother, carelessly overlooked, who barely climbs the icy stairs? And do they think about the mother who lost her son in the recent crash, are they sympathetic? No! They only care about their own benefit of things, overwhelming everything they did not achieve, closing in a narrow circle of people, thinking everyone else as inferior, underestimating their potential. Humanity, broad-mindedness - empty words, if there is no action to support them. Depending on false qualities, the only one you lie is yourself.

Being a person, a thinker - that's worth it! Where is the advantage? It is in broad-spectrum thinking, with no limitations. It is in the warmth that fills your chest after you have managed to help a person in need ... just like that without even being asked. This heat, dear, is indescribable! Free thinking is like weightlessness - it allows you to sail through space, makes you feel out of your body, as if you are a whole universe, you feel time, every second. You are ... something big, huge! A storm!

You become a human when you become humane. When your perception of everything "visible and invisible" expands every day to the extent that it exceeds your own expectations. Then you are not just a human, you are an art!