Enlightenment can be a tough road.
\nHaving an open mind does not mean an open highway bereft of tribulation and conflict.\u00c2\u00a0 Indeed, so it would seem, it can increase both of those.<\/p>\n
The knowledge and understanding of how limitations can choke.\u00c2\u00a0 But yet, when others do not share or recognize this, one’s societal world, one’s social circles, can quickly become very limited.\u00c2\u00a0 Or at the very least, strained.<\/p>\n
This has become apparent to me as a parent.\u00c2\u00a0 Watching my little girl, eager and wide-eyed with the world.\u00c2\u00a0 A thirst to experience all that she can experience.\u00c2\u00a0 No shame in sillyness.\u00c2\u00a0 No inhibitions for idiosyncracies.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, when amidst others of her age, who have already begun to develop their blinders, it can be painful to watch.\u00c2\u00a0 Because I remember what it was like, to be just a little different then all of the other straight and narrows.\u00c2\u00a0 I remember the giggles.\u00c2\u00a0 I remember the pointing.\u00c2\u00a0 Being comfortable with myself, yet lonely as others decide that they are not.<\/p>\n
And so I see it beginning with my little one, before she has even entered the public school system.\u00c2\u00a0 To be sure, kids still like her, and play with her.\u00c2\u00a0 To be sure, she still enjoys that which is deemed normal and traditional for a kid her age, and of her gender.\u00c2\u00a0 And to be sure, I can see in her playmates the happy anarchy of childhood innocence is still there, and viable.\u00c2\u00a0 But I can also see where they are being introduced and indoctrinated to the typical paths that so many others unquestioningly navigate.\u00c2\u00a0 The hard and fast rules of what boys do and what girls do.\u00c2\u00a0 The mantras of how to properly experience the universe we are in.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
And so the tricky part comes.\u00c2\u00a0 How to maintain integration without fostering isolation.\u00c2\u00a0 How to cherish and champion individuality, and at the same time, teach companionship and comradery.\u00c2\u00a0 To impart that though others may not jive with parts of the personality that their friendship is still valuable and vital.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s an odd thing.\u00c2\u00a0 We are invariably social creatures.\u00c2\u00a0 It is undeniable that at some level we all want to belong to something.\u00c2\u00a0 To be a part of a collective of characters.\u00c2\u00a0 At the same time, there are parts of our identity that will cause clashes, and sometimes, with those we most want to be friends with, or partners with, or lovers with.\u00c2\u00a0 As an adult this is easy to understand and rationalize, and so too with time will it become obvious to my little one and others like her who are growing up now.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the meantime, I make it my duty to keep that which may dull to not lessen her shine.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Enlightenment can be a tough road. Having an open mind does not mean an open highway bereft of tribulation and conflict.\u00c2\u00a0 Indeed, so it would seem, it can increase both of those. The knowledge and understanding of how limitations can choke.\u00c2\u00a0 But yet, when others do not share or recognize this, one’s societal world, one’s … Continue reading Open and Shut<\/span>