The Human Experience

I watched this documentary this morning and It was amazing. It was about these individuals who wanted to go on a journey and find answers to their questions about life. We all have our own journeys that we must go on to find answers to questions we have. They lived homeless in New York City for five days, they they traveled with a group called Surf for a Cause. They would travel around South America and surf and help with children organizations. They helped with one specific organization in Peru in a orphanage. The next adventure was in Ghana volunteering in a leper colony. If you want to watch it, then look up The Human Experience. It was made in 2008. I gained a lot of insights and reminders from this documentary. Here they are!

  • We have a need for love. The individuals talked about their families and how they didn't feel love in their families. I learned that really love in a close family is a strong need for a child and adult.If there is no love in the family, there must be love in the community and friends. Love is a necessary ingredient for a child to fully grow. Love is the primary motivator for our decisions in life. Love is what we live for. We desire love within families and friendships.You could see the power of love within this film.
  • I learned the power of resilience. A lot of these individuals in this documentary experienced traumatic events but they bounced back. I find it incredible in our power to bounce back from bad experiences. Kids from abusive families can grow better from that experience. The ability we have to grow from our negative experiences is incredible to me. This resilience is what makes addiction recovery possible and it brings hope into so many lifes. If we didn't have this power to bounce back, there would be no hope for us at all. 
  • I learned about the power of faith in our lives. The individuals in Ghana all talked about a God or a strong faith in a higher power. Although we may not believe in the same God, I believe that we all believe in a higher power. So many people talked about how their life presented miracles that proved there must be something guiding their life. They talked about how God or this higher power made things happen for a reason. This deterministic attitude gave a purpose to life. I love how the religion and purpose of life lead individuals to experience happiness despite suffering. 
  • Another thing that I loved about the documentary is the discussion about suffering. Most individuals talked about suffering in a positive light. There are multiple reasons to why we suffer. They said that suffering teaches us how to have compassion. They also said it was a way to humble us and show us our strength in times of doubt. These individuals experiences lots of physical and spiritual illnesses. It amazes me how strong they could be and how they did experience joy while they were suffering great amounts of pain. Again, this amazed me while I was watching the documentary. 
  • Have you heard of the saying that Those who have everything have nothing, and those who have nothing have everything? I noticed this in the film as I watched individuals in poverty and physical illnesses have so much joy. They reached out to others first and they never complained about their dire situation. I have everything I need yet I sometimes complain about my life. This film put my trials into a different perspective. Gratitude is everything because I need to focus on what I have. While they are missing a lot of things in their life, they claim they have everything they need. These individuals in a leper community said they had their community and a "house". They had each other and they kept each other living. While watching this, I wandered what we would be like if we had the same attitude. We have our friends, family and the gospel, isn't that what is the most important? All these tiny details and cool toys won't last. Our friendships, knowledge and families will last forever. Lets focus on those in this life and always be grateful for those things. 
  • Another important thing they talked about was the family unit. They talked about how unique it is and how important it is in society. The society runs based on how well the family unit is working. They talked about how the family is falling apart so there are more problems occuring in society. Family should be the most supportive unit that watches over every family member with love and protection. I loved this perspective on family.
Overall, I loved this documentary. It was very well done. It presented good viewpoints. Life is to be enjoyed with gratitude. The human experience is a beautiful process filled with suffering and growth. Thank you for whoever made this film.  

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