Hiding from Change

I recently read a short essay by Sara Yoest Pederson, she was commenting on the difficulty she had finding a particular children's book. This book sounded wonderful to me as it was about a child with two mothers. It is heartening to know there is a generation of children growing up right now, who may have a broader idea of what the word family means. Most important, they are not trying to squeeze themselves into that narrow model, depriving themselves of the freedom to be who they truly are. To know that in the not so distant future, same sex families will enjoy much of the freedoms traditional families take for granted, uplifts me. 

Freedom and change. As we grow as a society we learn to change. We learn to accept those around us for who they are; we learn that people, humans, are not box able. The complex circuitry of the human mind will always defy any limitations we place upon it. When a model is created for happiness, health, beliefs or religion, eventually that model will fall off to be recreated by the individuals who defied being defined. Every category made up of souls, will have exceptions. Not just exceptions, every soul will embrace some of the group thought and then have their own internal dialog.

Those who cannot acknowledge the impossibility of categorizing the human being will always live in a world of contradictions. Though they may want to be an ostrich and hide from this simple truth, in the end they will simply become hypocrites. For every sexual, religious or social deviant, who is brave enough to be themselves, there is one bottled up automaton human dying to allow themselves that very same freedom. From that bottling comes jealousy, and of that, is born hate. 

It is easier to hide than to outwardly express hate. How many have found themselves hiding from issues rather than facing them head on? To acknowledge jealousy and hate one must acknowledge the deviant within dying to get free. To face that, means ultimately facing oneself. Honestly coming to terms with sexual desire, beliefs, anger, hurt, greed and hate. Seeing it all for what it truly is. Knowing that each and every human on this planet is different from the other. We are all wired differently. No matter how many boxes, or categories, or church groups, or countries we create, nobody, not even ourselves, will ever be able to honestly subscribe to the rules and ideas laid out by that singular group thought. 

Though the tribe mindset helped humans through evolution, it is time to throw it aside. Individuals, though like-minded, need to begin to accept individuality over belonging. The need to survive in numbers has long passed. The time for killing enemies is over. We have been gifted with incredible minds and need to take them out of the sand, open our eyes, and accept the differences in every human being as strengths. Strengths that can benefit us all as a whole, not as a tribe that needs to exist in numbers, but a collective of individuals with individual strengths. Where every soul has something profound to contribute that is unique and beautiful.