R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Ethics are moral codes you stand by because you’ve come to a level of understanding the self in relation to others. Ethics are things we share with people sometimes through our actions and other times through our words of affirmation. One could describe their belief system, or root chakra, as their code of ethics. You’d know what one values by what they participate in and what they’re hesitate to speak up about. I find ethics so interesting because it allows one to healthy pick the brain of another creating this butterfly effect of a renewed way to think.

An ethic the world values most is respect. Since children we’ve been taught to “treat others how you want to be treated” yet we’re also taught that there are laws to abide by. So, the levels of respect became versatile due to the limiting beliefs placed on the human soul throughout life. I believe respect defines how the person views the world, based on its level of acceptance within. For example, I can only be compassionate to a mean person because these are characteristics, I practice with myself, but I also must acknowledge that mean person hasn’t yet understood their own pain or suffering. And accept, their lack of exploration of self doesn’t make them lesser than me but its not someone who should have access to me.

Although, I believe respect can be applied to all the balanced pairs of needs; I believe equality and hierarchism are most aligned to this virtue. I believe this pair contradicts itself through the expression of what equality looks like. Weil stated equality is a vital need for the soul to be recognized. (Need for Roots, p.16) While also describing hierarchism as a symbolic devotion to a superior being. (Need for Roots, p.19) How can one be equal if they’re devotion is focused on another being superior to her? Is that not making yourself feel less authentic because you’re shaping your identity to serve an obligation? Weil said, “The effect of true hierarchism is to bring each to fit himself morally into a place he occupies”(Need for roots, p.19) and that helped me understand its more about how you show that equality more than it is a level of recognition in a position. I say that because, in today’s time of social media influencers, some people gain a lot of influence with no good intention on elevating the masses, while others who want to genuinely help tend to get looked over.

In my reality, moral imperative is knowing and loving the self in overflow that one may be an authentic service to another human in need. I didn’t disagree with anything because I had everything to learn about these pairs of balanced action. My favorite ordered pair was order and liberty because it helped me understand that inner turmoil is not going to exist unless there is a moral code I am sticking to, knowing it doesn’t serve my soul’s joy. The most interesting need for the soul was risk. That helped me understand that my rebellion was a curious soul wanting to understand why adult humans wanted me to think a certain way, and it put punishment in perspective. I was able to identify that I punish myself, or the world is under punishment through the emotion of shame. It's like we don’t understand that a person has complete freedom over self because they’re simply a human like you. It’s like no one is secure because no one is allowed to live their truth without judgment. That’s why I say I must love myself in an overflow to be unaffected by the waves of doubt that ripple through earth.

In conclusion, I believe Weil presents a good standard of morals to stand by with a general explanation for all humankind to relate to. I believe she made it easier for me to release mindsets I held around my own identity. Overall, I believe truth is the life force of love which has potential to set the human free, but it still comes down to personal choices.

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS:

Are you accepting or genuinely seeking the truth or just want to be told an answer?

Who are you amid facing your greatest fear?

Do your choices align with how you want people to treat you?

Is respect more valuable to you when its spoken, seen through proper action, or a mixture of both?

In what ways do you respect yourself?

How could you elevate the spaces that lack your respect?

How do you show respect to others?