Musings: Overcoming “Other”

I finished up a few projects today and thought to myself what a week!  Of course, it dawned on me how limited my viewpoint was in the midst of our collective year.  Can you imagine what a year in review will be for 2020?  To those of us who are a certain age, remember when we were worried about going from 1999 to 2000?  Remember when we all heaved a collective sigh when it was uneventful?  Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure that 2020 thus far is the equivalent of planet earth saying to the universe, “Here, hold my beer.  Watch this…”

This isn’t the first year of turmoil for our country or even the world.  There have been plagues and wars handed down through the centuries and yet, we, the human race, have been resilient.  That resilience did not always come from some “leader” but rather from the collective conscience and perseverance of everyday, seemingly ordinary people who, together, beat extraordinary odds against disease and tyranny to make the world a bit better than it had been.

In some ways, I think technology has spurred on mass hysteria and, yet, in others, I think it has brought to light truths that have otherwise been hidden. In fact, I’m pretty sure that 2020 thus far is holding up the proverbial mirror to all of humanity and asking, “Is this who you are? Is this who you want to be? Is this the world in which you want live?” I think that we must each take a moment and look at ourselves, our behaviors, and our thought patterns. Importantly, I think we must consider not only where we fit into the larger schema of life but what we, as individuals, do to contribute to the world.

You see, just like those before us, we must have the courage to be better. It starts with each individual act and a personal accountability for those actions. Do those actions contribute or detract from society? Do they cause harm or do they make your corner a better place? I know that this seems like an oversimplification of complex relationships, hierarchies, and social institutions but is it? I mean if we as individuals strive to meet opposition at least halfway and try to avoid causing harm on any level, collectively, couldn’t we make things better in our world? Only you, dear reader, can answer that for yourselves. I’m not here to give you a lecture but rather to spur on questions that might help us all to get there. Indeed, these are the questions that I often ask myself and sometimes after the fact which is unfortunate. In those situations, I must simply acknowledge my mistake, apologize to myself or others, and move on. We are, after all, human which means we are imperfect.

Maybe I will be labeled an idealist, but perhaps if we stopped focusing on individuals who are [INSERT CATEGORY] as “other”, then they become human and we can find common ground. Something unique happens when we stop seeing people as “other”. It is only once we recognize that we are all human, we are all striving, and we are all in this together, that we can come to terms with the situation at hand.  Until we do that, conflict can rarely be resolved.  So I challenge you this weekend to think about extending that olive branch, meeting your “others” halfway, and rethinking how we have the power within us to contribute to a better world where value is seen even when it’s labeled “other”.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”—Nelson Mandela