I'm a big, okay, huge, fan of the rugged Individualism that the U.S. was built upon. Be yourself, be different and be unafraid this ideology screamed. It was sort of the wild west equivalent of modern day diversity. This mindset fostered great inventors and great dreamers and I love it. But in modern times I wonder if we have warped this concept. It seems we are all searching for a way to distinguish ourselves, sometimes to the point of insanity. For example, people used to eat what they had available. Now, people are vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, paleo, raw food, low carb, and the list goes on and on. Don't take me wrong here, I'm not saying these diet choices are bad or good. I'm using this as an example, only, of how absurd and complicated our idea of individualism has become. I could do the same thing with body art (tatoos, piercings, tongue splitting, etc) and sexuality (lesbian, gay, bisexual, swinger, transsexuals, etc). Again, I repeat, I have no problem with any of these lifestyles. Zero. But, they don't tell me much about who someone is as a person so I don't count them as true individualism.
What do i mean? Well, what you eat, doesn't tell me anything about who you really are. To me, these identities are walls that we put up to hide our true selves behind. Being a vegetarian doesn't tell me if you are a creative person or what your goals in life are (other than to not eat meat). It doesn't tell me if you are a caring person or if you are going to try take me down on your way to the top. These are some of the things I want to know about people. I could care less about some of your other life choices. What you eat or don't eat, isn't individualism. Who youbscrew or dont screw isnt individualism in my book. Yet, we often push these agendas to the point of being offensive, sometimes I think because we are so afraid to truly shine bright like the diamonds we are all. What do I mean? If I'm having people over for dinner, it seems the focus has become less about breaking bread together and more about what it is we are serving. I don't care what you put on your plate. I want to know the people. I want to share ideas and dreams and talk about issues. I long for true interaction not conversation about whether you eat dairy. I would like to share a meal, without the focus being on the food. Honestly, if I went to someone's house and they were serving Big Macs I would eat it. Not only out of gratitude for the work the host put into the meal, but also because getting together should be less about the food and more about the discourse in my opinion.
We were all made as individuals. Trust me, we are all unique just as we were created. We don't need to improve upon the creator's design by creating the illusion of individualism by clinging to our random lifestyle choices and hiding behind those choices at the expense of revealing who we really are. I challenge each and everyone of you today to work toward being more comfortable in your own skin. Be a true individual, be who you were made to be. Make your own choices but don't confuse those choices with your identity or push those choices to the point of selfishness. Don't hide your true colors behind some category invented by the modern day desire to distinguish your own identity. Go, shine bright like a diamond today, in your own skin, just as you are.
7 comments:
I agree that we are definitely obsessed with creating an image of ourselves to show others. I feel like people are okay sharing what they perceive to be adorable quirks about themselves, but aren't okay with showing some of the less lovable things, even though those things are likely normal/common/not all that terrible. For as much as people like to "share," they really like to hide. I think it's a matter of people being caring to one another (and showing a true interest in what others think and feel) so that others feel safer about being themselves.
This is EXACTLY why I enjoy OUR time together Jill. Brutal honesty and truth about who we are outside of the labels we give ourselves or that others give us. Love you!
How do I get my name to come up? This is Trisha....not 'unknown'.
Think I figured it out
I agree...in reference to one of the previous posts by Molly, this is one reason I don't care for labels. I don't have a problem being called a feminist (the label her post discusses); in fact, I'll rock that label hard and proudly...but I do, to a certain degree, have an issue with labels and accepting labels for myself. I think a lot of times, they serve to minimize a person and do not take into consideration the complexity and nuance of most everything in the world-in particular, who we are as human beings.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Your uncle's nice quote!
Post a Comment