Perspective Or Perception?
All weekend i've been having connection problems because of the storm we had here in Iowa so trying to stay online and work was impossible so instead I hunkered down with a few good movies and a book. As I was watching "Independance Day" I turned to my friend and said; " Do you realize that you have a Jew, a Black Man and an Alcholic saving the world?" He said, " Wow didn't catch that and i've seen it several times!." Amazing I thought. The guy who plays president can't act and i'm surprised he even got that part but that's another topic .... anyway my mind thinks of strange things as I pick up little details like that and so it brings us back to my strange thoughts of yesterday...
I was laying in bed trying to understand why I never seemed to fit in this place, the "heartland" as it's called. And it dawned on me. All I know here are people who are servants, such as maids, food waiters, janitors, you know the people that work hard for less money than everyone else. Good hearted people but I couldn't figure out why I couldn't "fit" into their world. Did I think I was above them? No way! I have tremendous respect for hard workers. But none of the people I know here understand Kafka nor read Dante, or sits for hours in a museum staring into one peice of art trying to understand the deeper meaning or wants to visit africa and feed the starving children... the people I know are more about drinking on their day's off because they've busted their backs all week and that's their only reprieve.
I wonder if they'ed be servants if they had more motivation. Motivation for what? They work hard to make pennies and I don't see them lacking in friends or love and they seem to be content. They play their stereo's, have cook outs and play cards. A tight knit circle of other service people around them. Friends they can rely on when times are tuff and money is low. They borrow from each other. If Terry gets paid friday and Denise gets paid Wednesday, she may need $10 bucks from Terry for gas to help get her thru and so on...
It reminded me of another movie, "The Titanic." Third class passengers way on the bottom of the ship, happily singing, dancing and drinking but to the upper class, those with means and education considered "beneath" them. The snobs on the upper decks were cold, disconnected and the nature of "status" were more important than friends with less means, look at how they treated Leanardo .... Well not everyone treated him like a servant boy but you get the point. I can't fit in with them because I love to talk, I love to read and I love a great debate on anything from politics, religion etc.. Things no one here I know gives a damn about. I don't watch BET or VH1 and never got into cards but a good game of chess would be great. Not to mention they think i'm weird for being a psychic and they can't relate to someone like me either. See how strange I am by what I talk about?
But back to the beginning of the blog, you have three differant people, all of whom we stereotype and if your not a Jew, a Black or an Alcholic you won't get the point...
As much as we have persecuted these people they were the first to pony up and put their necks on the line. Of course the alcholic got sober real quick and went into recovery but as it happens for him he died on his first sober day but hey who knows maybe he would have stayed sober, we'll never know and after all it is only a movie.
So i'm not sure having education and status makes us any better, perhaps how we view ourselves is the key to this when were seeking true happiness. The greatest people in our history were servants with humble means.... look at Jesus, Ghandi, Martin Luther King an so on...
And we also do that with those without money and education. There is racisim eveywhere and there shouldn't be. So what if I love to learn the things I do and my friends love to hang out and play cards, the single and most important thread here is that of acceptance. It doesn't mean I have to change or that they have to change. I think if we look hard enough to the find the little details, we find a bit of ourselves in everyone.
Realizing this yesterday really helped me to bridge the distance between the "them and me" syndrome.
Peace and Love,
Wind~