“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
― William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well
So many people have crossed my life's path. I often forget their names or how I met them. I forget what we did together. Then, then I see someone from my past and remember every single moment. Usually, these moments come flooding back, either filled with joy and happiness and uncontrollable laughter or total and utter shock and disgust. Stupidity about sums up some of these memories. Now I realize that it's not the memories, or the pain or the regret that matters. I'm in the "now."
Living in the now is something that I am still embracing. After these last few weeks, being glued to the politics and the television, I can think of only one quote by Thomas Paine. "Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us." I can say with certainty that the politics we are witnessing is all about character.
It's not the presidential election that has bothered me but the acceptance and the blatant disrespect of what makes us different. It's acceptable now to bully, attack and make fun of people with disabilities, or who are weaker in their physicality. It's not ok. It will never be ok and any rationality about such behavior sickens me. This is why, when Americans protested this week, it was their call to these inhumanities that makes the protesting so important. Living in the "now" has awakened those who have until now been conveniently asleep or their lives have become so busy and complicated that up until now they were just too tired to do anything about what they were seeing on television or the internet. Peacefully protesting is our right. It would not have happened to the magnitude it did, if we were content with the messages that we have been receiving over the past year. We should never be content if there is a potential that people will get hurt emotionally, financially, and even, spiritually.
I can tell that after numerous discussions with my 91 year old mother, that the women she gave birth to, are very different from her because that's what she was hoping for the day each of my sisters and I were born. She would tell me, "Educate the woman, and you educate the whole family." Intelligent thought, is educated thought. The conventional life that women were brain-washed to believe would give them the ultimate happiness was not at all parallel to what was really equal and appropriate. Today, NOW, her daughters have bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and have worked very hard at their careers and we have indeed, every right to voice our concerns when their rights are being infringed upon because some are afraid to catch up with what's already happened. Everyone has a voice and although we may not always agree, equality is an issue that should not be trivialized.
So what exactly makes us equal? Why are some people considered and allowed to be more equal than others? The answer lies within ourselves. What we are told as children has a profound effect. . What we are taught as children and what we are allowed to experience as children has a profound effect. There are boundaries that have to be set. There are rules that have to be followed. We are not entitled to anything but we are free to make our own decisions. No one can dictate our thoughts. No one can or should dictate who we love, or how we love. No one should dictate personal choice either. To be clear, this coming from an adult who has now voted in presidential and congressional elections since 1979. Politics needs to promote compassion, intelligent discussion and yes education. Intelligent debate is healthy debate. Ignorance, anger and irrationality is simply hurtful and dangerous. We've witnessed it all recently.
We should never accept in others what we would not accept in ourselves. What we would not tolerate, we should not tolerate in others. This is particularly true during our elections. History has showed us what can happen if we turn our backs. NOW,means taking a good hard look in the mirror and realizing that the decisions we make are connected to something more than ourselves. We are connected to each other.
It's not the presidential election that has bothered me but the acceptance and the blatant disrespect of what makes us different. It's acceptable now to bully, attack and make fun of people with disabilities, or who are weaker in their physicality. It's not ok. It will never be ok and any rationality about such behavior sickens me. This is why, when Americans protested this week, it was their call to these inhumanities that makes the protesting so important. Living in the "now" has awakened those who have until now been conveniently asleep or their lives have become so busy and complicated that up until now they were just too tired to do anything about what they were seeing on television or the internet. Peacefully protesting is our right. It would not have happened to the magnitude it did, if we were content with the messages that we have been receiving over the past year. We should never be content if there is a potential that people will get hurt emotionally, financially, and even, spiritually.
I can tell that after numerous discussions with my 91 year old mother, that the women she gave birth to, are very different from her because that's what she was hoping for the day each of my sisters and I were born. She would tell me, "Educate the woman, and you educate the whole family." Intelligent thought, is educated thought. The conventional life that women were brain-washed to believe would give them the ultimate happiness was not at all parallel to what was really equal and appropriate. Today, NOW, her daughters have bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and have worked very hard at their careers and we have indeed, every right to voice our concerns when their rights are being infringed upon because some are afraid to catch up with what's already happened. Everyone has a voice and although we may not always agree, equality is an issue that should not be trivialized.
So what exactly makes us equal? Why are some people considered and allowed to be more equal than others? The answer lies within ourselves. What we are told as children has a profound effect. . What we are taught as children and what we are allowed to experience as children has a profound effect. There are boundaries that have to be set. There are rules that have to be followed. We are not entitled to anything but we are free to make our own decisions. No one can dictate our thoughts. No one can or should dictate who we love, or how we love. No one should dictate personal choice either. To be clear, this coming from an adult who has now voted in presidential and congressional elections since 1979. Politics needs to promote compassion, intelligent discussion and yes education. Intelligent debate is healthy debate. Ignorance, anger and irrationality is simply hurtful and dangerous. We've witnessed it all recently.
We should never accept in others what we would not accept in ourselves. What we would not tolerate, we should not tolerate in others. This is particularly true during our elections. History has showed us what can happen if we turn our backs. NOW,means taking a good hard look in the mirror and realizing that the decisions we make are connected to something more than ourselves. We are connected to each other.
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