A few years back a very wise woman, who I adore gave me some sage advice...
"Sarah, don't label yourself."
I have given that a great deal of thought..as I do most things she shares with me. I have been labeled a great deal of my life...because well..I kinda go my own way. Here are a few I have been called: Weird, odd, Yankee, Geek, Nerd, Drama geek, gleek, uncommon (I like that one) Sci-fi nerd, Trekkie, tom boy, immature, wise, oversensitive, bitch, kind, Christian, Pagan, Buddhist, spiritual, stupid, brilliant, slow, advanced, stylish, outdated, outsider, loner, leader, follower, sheep, wrangler, Republican, Democrat, Independent....you get my point.
I suspect if you think on it you could come up with a list of things that you have been labeled with yourself. Some are OK..is nice to be uncommon..I kinda like that one..or kind..or brilliant LOL! But words hurt..labels hurt and separate us as friends, as people, as communities, as a country.
This week on many social media sites I have been quietly watching folks promote their political thoughts. As we have the right to do!! Sites like Facebook and Twitter allow us to post whatever we are thinking..sometimes without thinking... and it in my opinion has changed the way we experience political campaigns. It is all out there..in your face.....all the time..the political media. I am even OK with that..although sick to death of it! What I am not OK with is folks finding it OK to bash each other..unfriend each other..use hurtful words to harm each other over labels! So I am going to wade in here for just a minute and share with you what I have been musing about all week..
One of the beautiful things about living where we do it the freedom to be who we want to be..reach for the things we want to achieve and be..well uncommon if we want to! So when I look at you as a friend...I am not looking at your belief system, who your partner is, what color you are, where you went to school, or where you work, who you support for president, if you are a soccer mom or a granola, if you are rich or poor, thin or fat, young or old, I do not care about those things... but for one reason..they make you the amazingly wonderful, complex, fascinating person that you are!
I want to know what makes you unique, amazing, special! I want to know about where you have been and where you want to go. What makes YOU uncommon! I want to know your heart not your labels! I want you to know mine!
So today..while I am posting things around the Internet..I will be taking a minute and think about my audience and what those hearts are hearing me. Cause sometimes I forget too...I will be watching my words and labels..
Happy Wednesday all!
Namaste
the more labels I get the more I potentially learn about the viewpoints of others and the wonder of the human condition. We have available to us an unlimited amount of personality adaptations and in this fact....the ability to change with and to change for and to CHANGE OUR ENVIRONMENTS. Labeling is like sorting possibilities and must be recognized as just another available perception....or it becomes static...
ReplyDeleteInteresting point Dennis!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Sarah! I agree the bashing and hating the past couple weeks over the election gets me down. People should be entitled to their own opinions on any matter that's dear to them. There is no place for bashing, or for passing judgments based on first impressions, etc. I needed to read this post. Thank you!! P.S. I think what makes me the 'left of center' kind of person is my lack of caring about being 'one of the herd.' I definately walk to the beat of my own drum.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is that people cannot separate ideas from the holder of the ideas. So when they dislike the ideas, they assume they must dislike that person and so they feel free to make personally disparaging and hurtful remarks. We must discuss ideas but respect people.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Sarah! I'm sealing that fist quote and I have used the 2nd one before on my blog.
ReplyDeletei really wish people would think before they post on facebook, etc. i really don't think they do. i truly am not going to judge someone for their political beliefs, but when everything that they post becomes hateful and negative that is when i have to decide if i want that in my life. i love this post and wish everyone would read it and think.
ReplyDeleteblessings
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