Disclaimer: Bit of a chaotic rant. Some opinions may be controversial.

The reason I have told you so much about Asteroid B 612, and let you know its number, is because of grown-ups. Grown-ups love figures. When you describe a new friend to them, they never ask you about the important things. They never say: ‘What’s his voice like? What are his favourite games? Does he collect butterflies? Instead they demand: ‘How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much does his father earn?’ Only then do they feel they know him. If you say to the grown-ups: ‘I’ve seen a lovely house made of pink brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof’, they are unable to picture such a house. You must say: ‘I saw a house that cost a hundred thousand francs.’ Then they cry out: ‘Oh, how pretty!’

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I don’t like labels. When we label someone by their religion, race or political stance we ever-so-slightly rob them of their humanity and package them into a tiny box. Imagine your friend has the most beautiful fish known to humanity as a pet. You ask him to describe the fish and he says, “Oh, it’s a mandarinfish” and leaves it at that. Well? Is that it? What an outrageous description! I want to know how this most beautiful fish moves, what colours it boasts, whether it has a lover, children or friends. What makes this fish more spectacular than the rest of its species? But unfortunately, many of us are content with that description. “Oh, a mandarinfish”, we think. “I’ve seen those before… yeah, they’re kind of pretty.” And we don’t wonder any more. And how sad it is for the person who doesn’t know what a mandarinfish looks like but nods along! They might imagine a fish shaped like a mandarin, never experiencing the full beauty and splendour of this fish.

As soon as we go from what is to what should be, we’ve entered dangerous territory. When we say of someone, “She’s a communist,” understanding has stopped. We’ve slapped a label on her and if the label carries undertones of approval or disapproval, the quest for understanding is doomed. We may never know this woman’s story, interests, hopes or dreams. We throw her in the box of all the communists we already know and shut the lid on her. As Anaïs Nin famously wrote, “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.”

We strangest part is, we love putting labels on ourselves, even when it makes little sense. “I’m an athlete,” one might say. Well, are you really? Do you mean that if you weren’t able to run or jump or dance anymore, you’d be a different “I”? You can be athletic or good at exercise but to say “I’m an athlete” elevates athletics to the most sacred part of your identity. Honestly, it seems like you’re just asking to be disappointed. What if one day you wake up and you can’t move anymore? Think of how destructive that will be! To build yourself up on such a premise, only to have it crashing down…

And think of the opportunities you’ll miss from your labels! “Oh, I’m an athlete and athletes don’t read… yeah, we just don’t do that.” Really? Why not? Because a stereotype told you so? Because you’ll be scared someone might look at you and go, “Hey, Timmy over there’s reading a book! Ha! What a nerd!” Out of a fear of change, you submit and never explore life the way you want to. Labels are limiting. To label a book as ‘chemistry’ means it’s destined for chemistry scribblings. Similarly, to label ourselves as our religion, race or political stance puts shackles on how far we can explore.

But let’s be honest, labels have their place. Job recruiters need to quickly know a candidate’s qualifications. People on dating apps need a profile to swipe right on. But I really wonder what would happen if we stopped putting people into dangerous boxes but explored what makes them beautiful instead. And what would happen if we let our own identity be one of simply Being, rather than something like our political stance. I’m guessing there’d be a lot less suffering in the world. And in these chaotic times, we could really use all the beauty we can find.