Someone always
seems to be posting about how we
should place ourselves with people that make us feel better. I get it. It is good to feel validated and seen and understood. We seem to all seek that with every
breath. But as I was taking a slow
walk along the ocean bluff recently, I thought more about that and somehow it
didn’t sit so well with me.
When we are so
caught up in our own well being we might just be risking not developing
that emotional muscle called compassion.
If I only want to be around happy people, or if I only want to be with
people that agree with me, who do I become? How can I learn compassion for others that share this life
journey.
On this 4th
of July morning I am thinking about the phrase “E Pluribus Unum” which
translates to “Out
of the many, one”. There is the acknowledgement of
differences making up a greater whole. If we keep working at making our lives one-noted with
only those who support us, how will we learn about differences, how will we
address wrongs, how will we make contact with the OTHER SIDE OF THE
ARGUMENT? How do we make peace
with a world that we have banished behind the walls we are drawing around ourselves. Doesn’t it smack of elitism to just
push away anything we don’t approve of, or like?
I worry about how
polarized our culture has become.
I worry that we are losing the ability to entertain any ideas except the
ones we have. This country was
built by a group of people who came from vastly different cultural, educational
and financial experiences. The
difference was they were willing to argue and battle with one another over the
ideas that centered around this idea of the MANY becoming ONE.
On this day of
independence, my hope is that we can be free. Free in our thoughts and biases, free of our opinions and
take the day off from feeling so darned right and righteous. Maybe it is a day to just LISTEN. We don’t’ have to agree, but maybe just
restrain ourselves from forming that smug reply that is forming as we listen to
those with whom we disagree.
Take the day
off. Be free from insular ways,
and let the many fill you up before you decided today who is the ONE that is
you.
Happy 4thof
July 2015
Misty Wycoff
TODAY I WILL
LISTEN!
