Who are we anyway? Simple truth is slippery. There is always another version somewhere out there.
Ever found out you’ve been wrong about anything? Maybe it was embarrassing, but it’s useful to know the difference. One of the best things my father taught me was that a wise man may change his mind, but a fool never.
I didn’t know much in my early life so I faked my way along and followed others a lot. I’m older now and possibly a bit wiser after looking around on my own search for what might be a better way. The comfort I found when I learned to be in my own skin lets me appreciate so much more.
I care about us, who we are as a country. We are an “us”, you know. The better part of a marriage is when it is described in the “us”, not just either the “you” or “me”. Think about the little kid who can only say “That’s mine”.
We as a country are a stewpot of different ingredients. Our American history has a lot of layers, some buried deep. We each get to have our own point of view of our history and we get to choose what to hold as true. Being able to adjust that along the way is a real freedom.
In the eyes of another person we can possibly see another point of view that will enliven and open each of us to new possibilities, maybe one we would like better. Wow, imagine a wide and vibrant landscape available right in front of you.
I’m a movie buff. Movies have given me lots of fantasy landscape, emotional drama, and a wider view of history. Movies like “The Gangs of New York”, and the series “Deadwood” have brought past times and places to life. I could almost imagine being there. The producers said that they worked to reflect the real tone of those times. It was a view close to living in a different skin.
Our own vibrant world is growing and changing all the time. We can be rich by allowing a flexible relationship with that world. When we think we already know something, we stop looking for anything else, new information that could be really a better place. Don’t get me wrong, I’m like most people who like the familiar comforts of my own personal world. But as so much evolves around us, there is space where there is more, possibly a more useful point of view, not yet found. Surprising and delightful, like discovering a great flavor of ice cream for the first time.
I had to figure out that only I can be the one who can choose for me. I get to pick what to try out, to keep, grow into or discard. Finding out is a lot easier than the mental effort to keep pushing the uncomfortable unknown away. That’s exhausting and a drag.
Let’s keep striving to try out the great variety all around us, our homeland. There are lots of pleasant people all around, if we just keep opening our eyes to the varied, vibrant world right around us. Just smile to others you don’t know, it doesn’t hurt. I will continue to be trying out new ways myself, parts of the “us”, for the blessings that come with less dispute and more understanding. There is gold in becoming us.