Just living this life every day is like rowing a boat. Sometimes you have calm waters and other times it’s turbulent. I think it’s always been that way down through the years. Each generation has had their own set of waters to traverse depending on whether you have a destination or not. Maybe, you just want to sit there in your boat and be still in calm waters. There are times when that’s all you need.
Hubby and I got into a conversation yesterday morning after watching the CBS News Sunday Morning show. There were a couple of interviews the journalists facilitated that prompted our discussion. Like before, there are many of these instances when we watch or read something that prompt our talks, and this one was no different. But seemed like after our talk I wasn’t finished with it yet and more thoughts and ideas kept running through my head and heart. So, here I am sharing them with you and by no means have I arrived at any kind of conclusion. It’s just thoughts and questions I was pondering. Some of those“What If’s”, I talked about in an earlier post.
One of these interviews was with the retiring Smithsonian head, and the other interview was with a Democratic Kentucky Governor, hopeful to be running for the presidency. When asked difficult questions, both had good answers, from my perspective, and it’s what prompted the discussion hubby and I had.
We’re all good at pointing out the good things we like and especially the others we don’t like. But, if it’s different and we don’t like it, we’re also good at giving our opinions on how wrong it is. Even to the degree of being downright dismissive or sometimes demeaning. Then we justify it as passion.
The discussion hubby and I got into was: “why do we always have to point out what we agree or disagree with when others say and do something different we don’t like?” Why does there have to be one side or the other and make judgments on that, as if we’re excused when we think someone is doing something much worse than what we do?
And – this is where my mind kicks in with questions and starts pondering – “aren’t we all accountable for our thoughts and actions – or is that just reserved for the person who is different?” What’s good and what’s bad if everything is one? Don’t we need the contrast of good or bad, black and white, to see where we need to go, where to row our boat? Even when you row a boat, you need the resistance to get you moving. Why does different, negative or positive, have to be bad or good and just be a part of the whole?
Now, I understand there’s an extreme for which you have to make distinctions on what is harmful or not. Sometimes the dark is dangerous, and the light can be so bright it’s blinding and you can’t see. But when that’s the case, it’s up to me to move away and position myself in a better place.
I guess what I’m trying to realize here is that differences are needed, even important, and when we feel threatened by them, maybe what’s needed is to recognize that we feel uncomfortable and try to understand. We don’t need to make everyone think like we want or be the same because it would make our life easier. It’s the differences that create flavor and beauty – salt and pepper, woven tapestries.
Maybe, the reason it gets more difficult to understand is it’s to make us dig deeper and look in another place for answers. We can both be different and still coexist together – in fact, maybe that’s what we’re supposed to learn how to do. I know you need cooperation to do that, but it needs to start somewhere. Allowing ourselves to be a living piece of art floating up and around melting together, flowing with each other being more dark one time and lighter at other times in constant change. (Sounds crazy – huh?)
As you can see, I’m still pondering these things and makes me wonder why it’s so hard to get along with one another, especially when there’s opposition. I think when we run into problems is because we try to make others do as we like and believe like we want.
We’re complicated beings and make it so difficult to live in harmony not just with ourselves but with other beings as well. Just beat each other into conformity is the illusion we have that it will make everything in the world a much better place. I would venture to guess that if we ever accomplished that, it would still not be enough, as our egos would still need to be fed and want more.
Whatever it is, we’re all in this together no matter how you look at it, and I don’t believe we’ll get out of this without our own personal day of reckoning where our soul is compromised, and we have to make hard decisions. Like a mother finding herself pregnant with another child, she’s unable to feed, or a new VIP instructed to give orders to move ahead on projects he never thought he’d sign up for. Your head is demanding you to do one thing, and your heart is quietly urging you to do something else. I guess, then, it would be easier to understand when we witness what someone else is going through on the reckoning of their circumstances.
So, here I am, out here just rowing my boat (and venting a little). Sometimes I’m still and in neutral waters and other times I’m rowing like crazy to some distant shore. I’ll let you know if I arrive or not – but, could it be, that it’s not the destination so much as it’s the journey? If you’re still with me, thank you for letting me pen my thoughts, crazy ideas, hopes and dreams.
Pat from the ‘ol kitchen table
