09/15/2024
Recently, I watched two films that, on the surface, seem vastly differentâAm I Racist and Spaceman. But as I reflected on them, I realized they both explore the same human experience: loneliness. And more importantly, they show how clinging to rigid ideas, whether about identity or the world around us, can slowly invite death into our livesâjust as the Tao Te Ching warns.
In Am I Racist, the protagonist wrestles with their own perceptions of race, desperately seeking an answer that society demands. The film asks tough questions, forcing us to confront our inner biases and the frameworks through which we view others. But the deeper truth revealed is that clinging to these ideas, to the very concept of race itself, creates a prison for the mind. We become isolatedâlocked in a cycle of âus vs. themâânever truly understanding others, or even ourselves. Itâs the loneliness of separation, of building walls that we think protect us, but actually trap us. And in this mental prison, we die a little each day.
Spaceman, though entirely different in genre, brings to life the same existential struggle. The protagonist floats alone in the vast expanse of spaceâphysically distant from the world, but also metaphorically clinging to his identity, his purpose, his idea of control. In that emptiness, he too is confronted with the loneliness of existence. His isolation mirrors the loneliness of the mind that clings to certainty. In space, as in life, when we hold onto fixed ideas of how things âshould be,â we sever ourselves from the vastness of lifeâs possibilities. This too is a kind of death.
This brings me to something ancient, yet timelessâthe Tao Te Ching. It teaches us that when we cling too tightly to an idea, we invite death into our lives. Whether it's an idea about race, about self, or about how the world âshouldâ operate, that clinging prevents us from flowing with the ever-changing, limitless nature of existence. We become rigid, stuck, and ultimately, lifeless. The Tao suggests that true wisdom comes from releasing our need to categorize, to judge, to define. When we surrender that need, we open ourselves to life.
Hereâs the kicker: demanding that racism must exist or seeking a fixed answer to complex social questions traps us. Because, as humans, we are incapable of viewing the world beyond the limits of our perceptions. We see the world through the filter of our beliefsâour race, culture, and past experiences. When we demand that the world fits into that narrow view, we are blind to the fullness of reality.
Racism is a form of loneliness too. Itâs the loneliness of seeing others as separate, of needing to define ourselves against them. And as long as we cling to these ideasâwhether in defense or accusationâwe are choosing the death of connection, the death of understanding.
Both Am I Racist and Spaceman remind us that loneliness is not just the absence of others, but the result of clinging to fixed ideas about ourselves and the world. And perhaps, the antidote is what the Tao has always saidâlet go, flow with life, and see the world through the lens of unity, not division.
đ What ideas are you clinging to that might be keeping you isolated?
