Our fascination with aliens has been around for as long as I can remember. There are many interpretations of what other species could look like. Some are peaceful and cute like E.T. and others are violent and grotesque like the kind Sigourney Weaver’s character Ripley attempts to destroy time and time again in the Alien movies.  M. Night Shyamalan’s were long and green in “Signs”, and Spielberg’s were long and clear in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”.  And in the classic “Star Wars” epic George Lucas provides for many interpretations of different species and intergalactic worlds.

The appearances of each interpretation are different, but all seem to possess a higher level of intelligence and a curiosity for understanding the human species. The most recent movie, Tristar’s “District 9”, provides another interesting take on aliens. The aliens look like giant bugs walking on two legs that have been inhabiting Johannesburg, South Africa when the movie begins.

The aliens in this movie are a symbol and represent us as humans, and how dysfunctional we are in our everyday lives. They also represent that which is different; a minority compared to the rest of society. The movie places a spotlight on our fear, and the acts of crime we commit when our fear takes a hold of us.

Our hatred for each other is blatant and exposed. We seem creative in our insults and our intelligence seems to aim to destroy rather than to uplift. In the war between alien and human, it seems that humans end up being the real monsters. Even in “Alien”, where these creatures have an appetite to kill and feast on human flesh, humans risk their integrity to keep reproducing these species for “science purposes”. In our attempts to progress we seem to regress to savagery and barbarism.

However, in all stories whether fictional or real, there is hope. Every character, human or alien, will reach deep into who they are and do what is necessary to bring sense back into the insanity. Elliot took his bike and rode E. T. back to his mother ship. Ripley throws herself in an incinerator to destroy the alien she has inside. Hope lies within the human spirit; a place where truth cannot be destroyed.

The spirit is a place where all is good and perfect. The spirit fights even when our bodies can no longer go on. The spirit continues to live long after we have passed. Spirit is where we find our strength and our courage. In critical situations our spirit knows what to do. Heroes and heroines are created when all hope has been lost.

The choices that make us great men and women are those that make us grow and challenge us to see what love is really about; a sixteen year girl, that chooses adoption for her child, a teenager, that chooses to keep her baby, a family that adopts a child whose mom was dying of cancer, a soldier, who dies in the line of duty, a rapper, who calls out the president in a live television broadcast, a gay couple who on the stairs of the court house proclaim their love, an actor who helps rebuild the 9^th Ward, a senator from Illinois that campaigns to become the first black president of the United States. These choices help us grow not only as individuals, but also as a species. We all benefit from these contributions.

Each of us has our own purpose; we were not all born to be the president of a country. But it is essential to understand that all purposes are as equally as important and have to be fulfilled. We make these choices for the greater good each day.  What is our responsibility is how we contribute to the efforts of humanity.

Are we contributing to its progress or its demise? We may not violently attack someone that looks different than us, but are we making hateful remarks? We may not publicly speak ill of immigration, but do we wish some people would just go away? We may not openly bash gay marriage, but do we get squeamish every time we see two men kissing?

It is easy to feel disgust with ourselves when the hatred and violence is crass and honest like in District 9. What is harder is to recognize it when we hang out with our friends, or when we go to work, or we when have everyday conversations. Our conversations many times are filled with complaints and criticism. We complain about our spouse, our boss, our job, our government, and our president. Humans will continue to self-destruct if what we create does not uplift our species.

At the end of the movie viewers witness a glimpse of love. In an action filled sequence of killing and torture, love reappears in both a father and son relationship, and in an individual that chooses to love when it would have been easy to hate. Spirit – human spirit – finds its way to the surface of all the chaos. All seems so much more peaceful when love exists. You find yourself cheering for love.

Bravery many times comes when we love instead of hate. Bravery is when we choose to better the world we live in. Bravery is when we think of someone else before ourselves. We need a little more bravery in our relationships, careers, and society.

We can be the mother ship that takes humanity to that world high above our little minds and bodies, into a greater consciousness and light. Each of us has the ability to harness the great amount of love that would heal the world from the violence, injustice and hatred it suffers from everyday. We get this one life to assist in making a difference, serving our purpose, and navigating our ship home. In humanity’s history many events have come and gone.

We have experienced wars, natural disasters, and aliens. Human life has been threatened over and over again, but it continues to live on. Men and women have loved enough to give their lives to assure that humanity progresses. The great ones like Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr., and Abraham Lincoln all died loving humanity. Their spirit was greater than their minds and bodies and continues to live on today.

Marianne Williamson writes, “Spirit can never be diminished or sacrificed in any way. Every love is part of every other love, and every love builds on the love that came before.” We all benefit from the love we create, and in love there is always hope for a greater future.

Create your life, shamelessly!