Are y’all familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Here is a quick primer on it if you are not

And here is the traditional pyramid representation of it:

I love this theory and almost fully subscribe to it. I do think that people can live in multiple levels at the same time, just the lower level dominates the higher. Anyway, I love this because it helps you connect to people. It helps you not make dumb statements like “why can’t that homeless dude just get a job, look, I did it!” There are people in our city, literally blocks away from my house, that cannot get out of the first two levels. They spend 95+% of their time handling the base of the pyramid. Understand, it is impossible to devote any time to the tasks necessary to “just get a job” if you are freezing, starving and literally fearing for your life at any given moment. 

Is this supposed to prompt any action from you? I don’t know. Maybe. If it does, great. I am not trying for that to happen. My goal in discussing this is to show you another perspective that might help you have a little more compassion. Might help you not be quite as quick to judge or look over someone. Though the contributing factors and life circumstances may be impossibly complicated, the overall problem is quite simple. If you want to help, start at the bottom. 

Happy New Year! Let’s make 2025 a year of transformation and emergence!!