Cultivating the Essential: A Journey Through the Lens of Human Needs
What if the key to a fulfilling life isn't found in acquiring more, but in understanding what truly matters? In our fast-paced world of endless choices and distractions, the ability to identify what is essential is both helpful and transformative.
Within the practice of becoming clear on what is essential, a guiding light emerges, helping us recognize the elements that align with our deepest values and aspirations. This allows our authentic selves to bloom naturally and in alignment with our inner North Star. Simply put, when we seek clarity in what truly matters, an opportunity to move with our intuition emerges.
The word "essential" comes from the Latin essentia, meaning "being" or "essence" and refers to the fundamental nature of something.
Essential is:
Absolutely necessary: What you cannot do without while remaining true to yourself
Core to your being: What reflects your deepest values, purpose, and authentic self
Foundational: What everything else in your life is built upon
Irreducible: What remains when everything non-essential is stripped away
Essential is not:
Urgent: Many (but not all) urgent things are non-essential distractions
Popular: What others consider essential may not align with your authentic needs
Comfortable: Sometimes what's essential requires growth and change
Static: Your essential needs and values may evolve as you do
Often, we learn something is essential when it is removed. This is because the absence of something essential changes who you are or compromises your ability to thrive authentically. Essentials are non-negotiables that support not just your survival, but your capacity to grow, contribute, and find meaning in life.
To build a foundation for fulfillment, we must first understand the architecture of human motivation. Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, first proposed in 1943 and continually refined through decades of research, offers us one powerful framework for understanding what drives us as human beings. However, it's important to recognize that this is just one perspective among many wisdom traditions.
The Siksika (Blackfoot) Perspective: A Circle of Balance
Before diving into the commonly discussed Maslow framework (aka Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) , it's important to acknowledge its roots and limitations. When Maslow visited the Siksika Nation (Blackfoot) in 1938, he witnessed a worldview rooted in balance, community, and sacred reciprocity. What he observed inspired his famous hierarchy, but as Indigenous educators point out, he fundamentally misunderstood their teachings.
*I'm grateful to @sacredrelatives on Instagram for illuminating this important perspective. Much of the information in the section comes from posts they made.
In Siksika (Blackfoot) thought, wellbeing isn't a ladder, but a circle. You begin life with gifts, and you're expected to develop them not for personal gain, but for your people. Their model emphasizes:
Self-actualization as the base layer: You start with inherent gifts and potential
Community and cultural perpetuity: Individual wellbeing is inseparable from collective flourishing
Sacred reciprocity: What you receive, you give back to maintain balance
Circular rather than hierarchical: All aspects of wellbeing are interconnected and simultaneous
This Indigenous perspective offers profound wisdom about what's truly essential by recognizing the gifts we come into the world with and the importance of developing them in service to something larger than ourselves.
Maslow's Western Framework: The Five Levels of Essential Needs
1. Physiological Needs / The Foundation of Existence: Before we can focus on higher aspirations, our basic survival needs must be met. This includes not just food, water, and shelter, but in our modern context, quality nutrition, restorative sleep, and physical wellness. Understanding what your body truly needs (rather than what advertising tells you it wants) is the first step in identifying what's essential.
2. Safety and Security / Creating Stability in a Complex World: Once our basic needs are met, we seek stability and predictability. This includes physical safety, emotional security, financial stability, and health security. In our contemporary context, this also encompasses digital security, environmental safety, and psychological safety in our workplaces and communities. For many, climate anxiety and social instability have redefined what "safety" means. What does true security mean to you in today's world?
3. Love and Belonging / Authentic Connection in the Digital Age: We are fundamentally social beings, but our need for meaningful relationships has evolved. This includes not just personal relationships but belonging to communities that share our values. Whether that's environmental activism, social justice, creative expression, or professional purpose. Essential relationships are deep, authentic, and aligned with who we truly are, both online and offline. Quality and authenticity over quantity is a guiding principle.
4. Esteem and Recognition / Redefining Success and Achievement: This level encompasses both self-respect and recognition from others, but contemporary values have expanded what "achievement" means. For many, especially younger generations, true esteem comes from making a positive impact, living according to personal values, and contributing to something larger than oneself. Recognition might come from peers in social movements, creative communities, or purpose-driven work rather than traditional hierarchical structures. What accomplishments genuinely matter to you and align with your values?
5. Self-Actualization / Purpose-Driven Fulfillment: At the highest level of Maslow's hierarchy, we seek to fulfill our unique potential, but this increasingly includes how our personal growth contributes to collective wellbeing. Modern self-actualization often involves environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and using our talents to address global challenges.
A New Approach - Needs Aren't Linear
Unlike the hierarchy originally proposed by Maslow, I think many of us are finding that human needs are fluid and interconnected. You might pursue multiple levels simultaneously or find that certain needs become more important during different life phases. The key is recognizing which needs are most essential for you right now.
What's essential varies significantly between individuals, cultures, and generations. In more collectivist societies, belonging and community needs might take precedence over individual achievement. Similarly, different generations bring unique perspectives:
Gen Z and Millennial Priorities:
Environmental responsibility as a fundamental need for psychological wellbeing
Purpose-driven work that aligns with personal values, not just financial security
Digital wellness and authentic connection in an increasingly virtual world
Mental health awareness as essential rather than optional
Social justice and equity as core to personal fulfillment
Modern psychologists have expanded the original Maslow hierarchy to include:
Cognitive Needs: The drive to understand, explore, and learn
Aesthetic Needs: The appreciation of beauty, balance, and creativity
Transcendence Needs: Helping others achieve their potential and connecting to something greater than ourselves
Environmental Stewardship: The need to live in harmony with our planet and ensure a sustainable future
Digital Balance: The need for authentic human connection while navigating technology mindfully
Purposeful Impact: The need for one's work and life to contribute meaningfully to society
Collective Wellbeing: The understanding that individual fulfillment is interconnected with community and global health
Adaptability and Resilience: The need to develop skills for thriving in a rapidly changing world
Integrating Wisdom Traditions: Your Essential Path
Both the Siksika circular model and Maslow's hierarchical framework offer valuable insights into what's essential for human flourishing. The key is finding how these perspectives can inform your unique journey of intuitive blooming.
Integrating these different perspectives on human needs helps you:
1. Prioritize with Purpose: When you understand both what "essential" means and which level of needs you're currently focused on, you can make decisions that truly support your wellbeing. You begin to distinguish between what's urgent or appealing and what's genuinely necessary for your authentic growth and intuitive blooming.
2. Release Unproductive Attachments: Understanding what's essential helps you identify the difference between what you think you need and what you actually need. Many of us carry attachments to things, relationships, or goals that seemed important but don't align with our essential needs. This framework helps you lovingly release what no longer serves your core being, creating space for what wants to bloom.
3. Welcome Clarity and Peace Through Values Alignment: When your actions align with both your essential needs and your contemporary values, whether that's environmental responsibility, social justice, or purposeful work, you experience less internal conflict. Decisions become clearer because you have a framework that honors both your personal wellbeing and your contribution to collective flourishing. This alignment allows your authentic self to bloom with confidence.
4. Cultivate Holistic Fulfillment: Unlike superficial pleasures that fade quickly, fulfillment based on meeting your essential needs while contributing to something larger than yourself creates lasting satisfaction and meaning. This might include pursuing work that aligns with your values, building relationships that support both personal growth and social change, or developing lifestyle practices that honor both your wellbeing and environmental sustainability. When you live this way, your life becomes a natural expression of who you're meant to be.
Your Journey Forward: Questions for Reflection
As you consider what's essential in your own life, ask yourself:
What gifts did I come into this world with? Following the Siksika perspective, what inherent talents or qualities feel like part of my essential nature?
How can my gifts serve something larger than myself? How might developing my potential contribute to my community, environment, or collective wellbeing?
Do I view my growth as linear or circular? Am I trying to "climb" toward fulfillment, or can I embrace a more balanced, interconnected approach to my wellbeing?
What are my true essentials versus my perceived needs? What do I think I need that might actually be wants, habits, or social expectations?
Which level of needs demands my attention right now? Are there foundational needs I've been neglecting while pursuing higher-level goals?
What would remain if I stripped away everything non-essential? What is so core to my being that removing it would fundamentally change who I am?
How can I distinguish between urgent and essential? What feels pressing in my life right now, and how much of it actually aligns with my deepest values and needs?
How do my values align with contemporary challenges? How might my essential needs include responding to climate change, social justice, or other global issues that matter to me?
What does purposeful impact look like in my life? How can my work, relationships, and daily choices contribute to both personal fulfillment and collective wellbeing?
How can I balance digital connection with authentic relationship? What does genuine belonging look like in our interconnected but often fragmented world?
What legacy do I want to create? How do my essential needs connect to the kind of world I want to help create for future generations?
The Process with an Open Heart and Clear Mind
Remember that honoring what's essential is not a destination but a continuous process of intuitive blooming. As you grow and change, so too will your understanding of what matters most. The goal isn't to achieve perfect clarity once and for all, but to cultivate an ongoing relationship with your essential self, allowing your authentic nature to unfold naturally while also letting your intuition guide you.
Contemplating what’s is essential in my life has been an incredibly valuable experience. The most surprising thing about this work is that I can now see how my essentials have shifted over time.
There was a long period in my life where my main focus was on survival, on making enough money to make ends meet. That was a valuable time because having clear needs (food, water, shelter, etc.) gave me clear focus. As I’ve gotten older, and my foundations have grown stronger, I can see how my essentials have changed.
I hope that you embrace the process of discovering what is essential to you with an open heart and clear mind, knowing that by honoring what's essential, you cultivate a life of purpose, joy, and authenticity. Your journey of self-discovery becomes not just personal transformation, but a gift to everyone whose life you touch.
ESSENTIAL SELF WORKSHEET
I’ve created a worksheet to help you discover what’s essential to you. This is a timeless tool for reconnecting with your authentic self during transitions and transformations.
This worksheet can be used whenever you find yourself in transition, feeling disconnected from your authentic self, or simply wanting to realign with what truly matters.
Bibliography
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@sacredrelatives. (2024). Indigenous perspectives on wellness and community [Instagram posts]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/sacredrelatives/
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