The name of this blog and the slogan I use for my company – For the Love of Diversity – carries multiple meanings. One can interpret a love for diversity as a position within a political context – one in which one endorses human diversity as cultural, religious, sexual identity and orientation, etc. This is an area I’ve worked within for much of my adult life – on different levels and in different capacities. It’s only relatively recently that I’ve discovered my own neurodivergence and found that my thinking on cultural diversity in terms of different ethnic cultures (typically oppressed minorities and indigenous peoples) actually can be more or less directly applied to the neurominority that I myself – unknowingly for most of my life – belong to.
What I’ve found, and what I’ve argued previously (outside the context of various neurotypes, that is), is that we have a right to know, explore, cultivate and be proud of ourselves on our on terms. What do I mean when I say “on our own terms”? I mean that we have the right to claim ownership of our own self-expression – not in relation to/in comparison to the majority culture, neurotypical culture, the norm, the state, the official religion, etc. – but in a standalone container. This is essentially what I am trying to create through my advocacy work, mainly directed towards the highly sensitive and neurodivergent population as of lately (however I still care deeply about those groups I used to advocate for).
I actually care for everyone! I often get questioned regarding my separatist groups – I also work a lot with women only – on the grounds that it is leading to separation and division. But I disagree. I’m sure it can lead to that, but it all depends on the intention. If the intention is to create safe space for those who belong to a certain category of humans with certain shared experiences, because there is an need for doing so among those affected, then it is a need that should be accommodated. People who belong to a majority typically don’t feel this need, but it doesn’t mean they are less important – it simply means they have a different set of needs.
To love diversity is to understand and appreciate that we have divergent perspectives, preferences and needs. It means that we appreciate people for who they actually are, not who we want them to be. We will not compare a lily to a rose to determine who is “better”. We will not argue about the usefulness of an insect in relation to a lion. We understand that all creatures have their own and very specific role to play as a part of the whole.
In human terms, it is not just on a group level that we need to love diversity, we also need to do so on an individual level. If we think about a tribe, much smaller than how we organize society today – but also larger that a family unit – we can more easily imagine how every individual needs to be specializing at their “thing”, whatever that is. And leave the things that are not theirs to those members who are designed to do them. If we start to trust that we are made by Divine Design to be who we are and do our designated tasks, there would be less wasted potential as well as overuse of human resources.
Loving diversity then, is a way to restore balance and cultivate peace. It is to view all beings as inherently Sacred.
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