Why Be an “Earthling?”
Are You An Earthling?
When it comes to marketing, the message is always to niche down and be specific. Let the intended audience know that you're talking to them. Your product or service is for them. Working with travel soccer moms, seven figure real estate sales agents, or award-winning chocolatiers is better than working with women or home owners. So, why Earthlings?
What's an Earthling?
An Earthling in an inhabitant of Earth. It can include creatures from the plant, animal, mineral, or human species. The term also tends to be used to acknowledge that there are other life forms in the universe that are not from Earth.
Why "Earthling?"
When I was little, because I looked "different," some people would ask me, "What are you?"
What?
What refers to objects. I wasn't sure how to answer that. I thought it was obvious. I am a human. A girl.
That question conveyed that whatever they thought I was, they didn't think that we were the same.
This experience has always stayed with me because adopting a habit of categorizing and judging is what creates "in" groups and "out" groups, suspicion, loneliness, and war. I realize that it's natural and adaptive. If we know what an enemy looks like, we can guard against it.
However, I believe we've taken things to the extreme.
While sometimes our differences are important and need to be honored, we are clearly separating people into "ins" and "outs" based upon nonsensical criteria.
"Earthling" Is a Cry For Unity
Adopting the term "Earthling" is a cry for unity. It's a way to say, "We're all Earthlings first."
Gaia is our mother. She is mother to humans, plants, animals, and the mineral kingdom. We are all her children. We are brothers and sisters.
Adopting the term "Earthling" is a stand against -isms. Phobias and -isms create fear and separation. They make it easy for people who wish to control others to manipulate them.
Moving away from -isms makes it easier for us to love, connect, and work towards a common good. Stand with peace. Stand with unity. Belong.
Lanvi
Your experience when you were little is very reminiscent of mine too.
It is terrible, the “what are you?” questions. It makes my soul cry and cringe a bit to hear it again. For me, it was multi-layered. It was not just about questioning only my general ethnicity, but the specifics of the “Asians.” Like “what kind of Asian, and what region, based on skin-tone, because only “lighter skinned Vietnamese” could possibly come from the north and not the south. That kind of ignorance and insensitivity, that I had to tolerate. But the “what are you” was also in question of my gender. When I was little, I was very androgynous, ambiguous and a shape-shifter. Simply tossing my hair left or right or under a hat made a difference. And I also love wearing what style clothes I like, whether boys’ or girl. It doesn’t matter. Look at nowaday with all this “unisex” and “everybody collection” stuff. Who cares! Clothes does not define gender or sex! I enjoy the versatility and full spectrum expression and cared very little about having to “appropriate present” myself as a specific gender to the general public.
The questions are not even asked as a genuine way to get to know or learn more about someone that comes as a poorly asked question. It was simply an insulting way to satisfy their curiosity and assert superiority and power. “What are you”, an animal, extraterrestrial, a thing.
It is truly sickening in the stomach to think about.
I imagine, if I had answered “earthling,” I would be laughed at, mocked at, and thrown rocks at.
😔 More kindness is witnessed amongst the wild animal kingdom than the human one.
Laura
So sorry that you experienced that. Thanks for sharing. I hope that people will read this and begin to think about what they are saying. Seeing all creatures from a heart space, a space of inclusion, may change our language.