Something we all share – besides Gravity

Gravity effects us equally and without agenda. Because topics such as religion, politics, and ethnicity are so incredibly divisive, the Gravity and You Project seeks to create unity through the exploration of something we all share: gravity. Not only does it keep our feet on the ground (usually) and the wine in our glass (for a short period of time), it brings us all together under its force. Of course, gravity is not the only thing we all share. Anjali Kumar’s beautifully narrated search for god reveals some of our other universals.

Her god-search, which included a tequila-drinking medium, laughing yoga, calling God from a phone booth at Burning Man, hugging a shaman, and a meeting in Brazil with John of God, did not reveal God (or god depending on your perspective). Instead Kumar rediscovered that we share three basic human needs: health, happiness, and love (and not just during the week of Valentine’s Day).

We love her TED Talk. And while we agree with the three shared needs and with Kumar’s Jainist parents’ concept that “no single person can hold ownership or knowledge of absolute truth – even when it comes to religious beliefs,” her delightful presentation begs the question, “Why do we share these three basic human needs?” This is the question so many spiritual and religious people (and their leaders) stop just short of asking.

Even more fundamental than our basic human needs is our subjectivity to the force of gravity. We share the same needs because gravity impacts us all equally whether or not our basic needs are met. The force of gravity is the source of all life. Without gravity, our sun and its planets would not exist, and the conditions that brought life to our planet never would have happened. Gravity quite literally pulled it all together so that life (and our basic human needs) could happen.

Kumar ends her talk in a way we can all enjoy: “Even in a world fractured by religious, ethnic, political, philosophical, and racial divides, we are all fundamentally the same.”