For some people, Mazlow's "being needs" which are supposed to only come into effect once other more basic needs are met... are as basic a need as the others.

People contemplating suicide can have any number of unmet needs, but the things that pull them back from the brink often fall into the top of Mazlow's pyramid example. The reason most often cited is something innocuous and simple. "I saw a spiderweb in the sun after a rain, and I knew I had to keep living."

It is beauty that drives the human spirit to BE... even in the face of other supposedly more important needs not being met at all.

There are several flaws in Mazlow's hierarchical theory, perhaps a circular or zoned model would better address the human condition.

Time Management From the Inside Out asks you to divide your life into "zones" rather than hierarchical "planes" and to do at least one thing from each zone regularly, instead of ignoring some zones at the expense of others.

The majority of people are happiest when needs of all the various zones are met. Perhaps, that is the active part of BEING? To make sure that you are as full and rounded a human BEING as possible? It is definitely easier to passively BE yourself when your needs are actually met, because you're automatically BEING a more happy, fulfilled person.

To be rounded, does not mean that you have to be fluent in 15 different languages and play the cello and do math and... it just means that you need to round out your experiences. Meet the needs of physical-material (shelter, food, clothing, exercise), time with family and friends, romance (which for a single person can mean a romantic dinner for yourself), and the self (which can be anything at all that makes you glad to be alive, such as work or play... or perhaps those belong in a different zone for you). Different people have different maps to get to these "psycho-physio-logical" territories... but the territories are still there.

And the needs can be met either simply or in more expensive and complicated ways.