Moving from one place to another defines you, according to dictionaries, as a migrant, while relocating from one country to another labels you as an immigrant. Many of our social issues are springing from the idea that being born in a certain country makes you different from someone else. The idea of space is defining humans, labeling them into categories related to Third World Countries, Western World, Eastern European Block, but, we don’t realize that the only one who wins this so-called location race is the ego. At the end of the day, we are Edging God Out of our souls, and instead of looking at our similarities, we are actually emphasizing our differences.
Racism, prejudice, xenophobia, and chauvinism all are showing intolerance for the foreigners, but aren’t we all foreigners on this land, called Earth?
We are all coming from nothing, from the Universal Mind, and no matter where we have been born and where we are moving, we are still the same. We take with us our feelings, our spirituality and, even if the external part might be different, we are just one. As there are many types and colors of M&Ms and all of them are considered sweets, there are also many races coming from many far lands and all of them belong to the human genes pool. There are many varieties of apples from red to green, from sweet to sour, Honey crisp, Granny Smith, Sun crisp, Yates, Fuji, Jazz, Arkansas Black, but aren’t they all fruits? I truly doubt that the Jonagold apple tree is looking down on Shizuka tree and labels it as a misfit, a foreigner, a traitor, a wanna-be, a terrorist just because it came from another part of the world and its “taste” is different. All these fruits shine brightly on the same rack, displayed at Trader’s Joe, Sprouts, Vons, Albertson, Ralphs’, Whole Foods stores. There is no envy, no backstabbing, mistrust or any sense of inferiority due to their origin of birth.
Birds migrate, as well as humans do, due to seasons and availability of food; migration occurs mostly in the Northern Hemisphere where birds are shafted on to specific routes by natural barriers such as the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas.
They use celestial cues, such as the earth’ magnetic field, the sun and the stars. But in this case as well, I disbelieve that migration among birds will be seen as something defamatory and will be ridiculed, bullied or mark with a scarlet letter. They all, in the race for continued existence, try their best to change, to adapt and to survive the intemperate weather, the new location’s conditions, the availability of supplies.
This world with all its living beings is constantly moving, stretching and transforming itself. The beauty of all of us comes from change, from the chameleonic attitude for survival. Humans cannot bath twice in the waters of the same river, and like Einstein said once whatever doesn’t change is not real.
Being a migrant in the real sense of the word is being a courageous soul, one that doesn’t pay attention to where he has been but to where he wants to go. To a migrant the origin is not important nor is the destination. All that matters is the journey of having new eyes and perceiving new realities. The growth happens when tomorrow is not known, and the real migrant is always ready for a new conquering adventure for a new self-discovery path of his/her inner strength, attitude, joy and contentment.
According to Einstein, “imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” All of us are migrants using our imagination, thinking that where we want to go will be much better than where we are right now. We hold tight to that conviction and march in the directions of our dreams, hoping and believing that that new country, that new land can be the one we really belong to.
Nobody wants to be uprooted, but everybody wants to be happy. So, if happiness might be coming from the change in the environment, change in partners, types of food, sleeping habits, then humans display those survival skills to fulfill their destiny. “Here” or “there” is just a matter of finding yourself in your true color. “A journey of a thousand miles starts with one single step,” said Lao-Tzu, and that one step comes with courage, with the desire to be a migrant, to be in motion and to tackle life, meeting it in an open arena. Migrants always know that after the rain, the rainbow will appear and with it the possibility of a new bright day.
To be a migrant is the best label of all. You are open to learn, to see, and to taste the many flavors of “life apples” there are out there, even if some are sour ones. You are never stuck in that yesterday that is long time gone, and, more than that, you are tickled by life’s array of possibilities. It is never too late to march your migrant soul toward the uncharted territories of your own life and to be ready to accept that every day has the potential of a lifetime!
No matter where we are coming from, no matter which country we belonged to for a while or forever, we are migrants, transcending time, space and emotions, surviving defeats and conquering new horizons, having faith that we are here to fulfill a secret mission called – Life.
