The October 2015 AARP Bulletin features Oprah Winfrey with the title, “Finding Your Spirituality, Oprah Joins Americans over 50 On a Search for Meaning”. That cover picture and title made me think of something from my days as a Sociology major at the University of Virginia – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In reading the article it was interesting that this came out as Oprah’s network, OWN, is featuring a seven-part series, Belief, which ironically starts today as I pen this post. So maybe the timing of the article is not by happenstance, but the message of Oprah’s focus over the past few years on spirituality exemplifies the theory behind the hierarchy of needs.
When we look at a pyramid, the bottom is usually the most populated and each segment above becomes less and less populated. According to Maslow’s theory, It notes that most people are focused on addressing their basic, physiological needs. Then there is a group who have addressed those needs and they focus on their psychological needs. Once a person’s physiological and psychological needs are addressed they can then focus on self-actualization (self-fulfillment).
I thought of Oprah Winfrey and Maslow’s theory because here we have a woman who has positioned herself in such a way that her basic needs are met, she’s spent time and energy developing relationships and has publicly shared her quest to address her psychological needs and now, she’s shifted to focusing on spirituality which can be connected to her need for self-actualization and self-fulfillment.
This is not about financial wealth and mansions and cars. This is about having your needs met on different levels of your being. The concept is that when we feel our basic needs have been met we can better focus on our psychological needs. When we feel those needs have been met, we can better focus on our creativity, our full potential as people. If I’m hungry and I have no place to sleep, it’s difficult to focus on other things. If I live in constant fear that someone will harm me, it’s hard to focus on developing loving relationships. So according to Maslow’s theory, once we can move past the items at the lower levels of the pyramid, we can give our energy towards things at the upper levels of the pyramid.
We all have needs. Where you are in your life determines your focus. Life can move you from one place to the next in an instant. Losing your job can cause a quick shift from esteem needs to a focus on physiological needs. A new job can move you from a focus on safety and security to a focus on relationships.
Can you identify your focus right now? What is most important to you right now? Is it food and shelter? Is it the feeling of accomplishment? Is it your familial relationships? Is it our faith? Where are you in the hierarchy of needs?
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