We Need All Kinds

Diversity was initially introduced to me in high school biology.

In this context, it is a survival adaptation for a species. If every individual of a species had the same weaknesses, then extinction would be easy. Hit that single spot, and the entire species is eliminated. So, diversity is a way to ensure that can't happen. It makes the species more resilient.

Zooming out a bit, biodiversity is crucial as well. If every single species needed the same things, then competition for limited resources would prevent the success of most species. Likewise, there would be no renewal of resources. Waste products would be universally waste, and the great cycle of life would be snuffed out quickly.

Three-dimensional wooden fish puzzle with aqua and purple pieces

Instead, plants need carbon dioxide and see oxygen as waste. Fauna prefer oxygen and expel carbon dioxide as waste. Without bacteria and dung beetles and carrion birds, etc, we would have no way to recycle wastes or recapture resources to perpetuate the cycle.

We NEED a diverse array of species (and individuals) to make the whole damn thing function.

Our current financial systems work this way, too. Without diversity in a market, we say the market "has been flooded" and no one can really thrive anymore.

Society is like that, too. If everyone sells cars, who will grow food, run factories, deliver packages, repair appliances, etc.

This is a good thing and necessary. We are human beings: sparks of divinity wrapped in meat suits with an expiration date (I've been watching Supernatural, can you tell? 😁). As individuals, we are capable of anything but not everything. We are inherently limited. No one among us can be good at every aspect of life - and that's OK! We were never meant to be. Nothing in nature works that way.

This is why we are meant to have partners, family, friends, and community.

Shame loves to tell us that we aren't enough, but it's holding us to a faulty standard. We don't need to strive for enough - we are already enough. We just need to recognize that our limitations aren't failures - they're messages, leading us to find our community: a place where our puzzle piece fits and contributes to the greater whole.