11.14.13 The Value of Difference......With Gratitude to CM, for inspiration

The question we each ask ourselves every day is

 " How can I appreciate with a peaceful heart and mind....

the kind of person I am not....and the kind of person I am? ". 

Why should an ancient Oak waste time lamenting their inability to fly like a bird or swim like a fish ,

 instead, grasping the wonder of their enormous grounded roots and remarkable towering presence ? 

That is my wish for each of us.

Acknowledging challenge and delighting in the wonder of our individual gifts. 

Our differences.

In years to come, difference is going to be paramount- perceiving it, accepting it, utilizing it, appreciating it.

Our survival will depend upon an approach to difference that is in direct opposition to so many aspects of the behavior of many species, including ours, of the past. Oh, and the present.

And its’ tough. Crows hardly allow different crows to survive.

So many species rely on similarity to be able to count on the other to be what they have grown to anticipate from their species.

There is a great deal of common sense to evaluating safety or danger by observing how an unknown person behaves.

But human bodies and minds are changing, and quickly.

In response to environment?

Or evolving?

Or both?

No matter, we are. And the capacity to BE adaptive and responsive has ensured survival over and above suspicion of difference.

The capacity to learn to wait and not judge, observe and not pigeonhole, ascertain safety and then open ourselves to supporting others…who may look or  move or speak or think in ways very different than the average behaviors we have become accustomed to, will be vital to our own happiness, and our own adaptability. Our own sense of comfort and belonging. Our responsibility to share that with others who are…different.

And hope we will be granted the same for the ways that we ourselves are….different.

Whether it be the way that each one of us struggles mightily with our real or imagined excesses and inadequacies,

Or the way in which we are capable of being at peace with our own abilities and disabilities, and other’s,

Or the way in which humans seem to cleave to themselves as an odd, invisible poor excuse of a hobby ,  a secret self depreciating consort, of feeling badly about themselves, neither will feel or function especially well.

But learning to look and listen and trust our common sense, and be open to difference in ourselves and others just might create the kind of world we would choose to live in.