Sticks and Stones ...
Every second of every day there are people with hurt feelings over names that they have been called, insults that have been hurled at them, or even the insidious demons of their own self-doubts and fears. They are tossed about like so much flotsam and jetsam upon the tides of meanness.
One of my favorite things to ask a student when I have to deal with this issue is this: If I call you a purple, two-headed rake, does that make you be one? This usually brings a reluctant chuckle with an adamant, "NO!"
Of course it doesn't.
We are not defined by the labels that other people try to place upon us unless we choose to be. We have the option to define ourselves and swim upstream against the current of what others do. Why, then, do so many of us simply give in to the flow and assume that that must be the right thing to do and wash away on downstream with no self-direction or self-definition only to drift into the rocks where stagnant water settles? This has been on my mind lately.
Stones are quite interesting to me.
I like to pick up special rocks when I'm on a trip or doing something that I especially want to remember. They have value not because they are worth a lot of money but because I have chosen to invest a value upon them. Diamonds, sapphires, and other gems are also just just stones. People have chosen to assign certain values upon those, too.
People are like stones. Just because one might not be an emerald or an amethyst does not mean that they are any LESS valuable. It is up to us to put value in and appreciation of each and every stone (person) and to gather them unto us like the most precious gems that they are regardless of color, size, shape, form, or clarity.
The least among us is no less precious than the greatest.
Today's Plan: To decorate my life with the beautiful gems that are my family, friends, and fellow humans.
One of my favorite things to ask a student when I have to deal with this issue is this: If I call you a purple, two-headed rake, does that make you be one? This usually brings a reluctant chuckle with an adamant, "NO!"
Of course it doesn't.
We are not defined by the labels that other people try to place upon us unless we choose to be. We have the option to define ourselves and swim upstream against the current of what others do. Why, then, do so many of us simply give in to the flow and assume that that must be the right thing to do and wash away on downstream with no self-direction or self-definition only to drift into the rocks where stagnant water settles? This has been on my mind lately.
Stones are quite interesting to me.
I like to pick up special rocks when I'm on a trip or doing something that I especially want to remember. They have value not because they are worth a lot of money but because I have chosen to invest a value upon them. Diamonds, sapphires, and other gems are also just just stones. People have chosen to assign certain values upon those, too.
People are like stones. Just because one might not be an emerald or an amethyst does not mean that they are any LESS valuable. It is up to us to put value in and appreciation of each and every stone (person) and to gather them unto us like the most precious gems that they are regardless of color, size, shape, form, or clarity.
The least among us is no less precious than the greatest.
Today's Plan: To decorate my life with the beautiful gems that are my family, friends, and fellow humans.
posted by Michelle at
7:58 AM
3 Comments:
Human tectonics. We are indeed precious stones ablaze in the heavens. That's where we came from.
Of course, some are more precious than others. It is the way of things.
But we should never think ourselves less than other stones for there are many facets in our personal geologies.
A great entry and thanks for making me aware you're out there like the star you are.
By
Joseph Gallo, at 5/22/2005 2:34 PM
Thank you.
By
Yibbyl, at 5/23/2005 1:15 AM
I don't want this to sound silly, but the reference to stones made me think of the movie "With Honors" from a number of years back.
Joe Pesci plays a bum who is living on the Harvard campus, and to keep a long story short, at one point he pulls out a small little pouch that he wears around his neck that contains a number of small stones. One is representative of a good night's sleep he had somewhere, another one was representative of the only woman he ever loved, etc. Each time an event of particular note happened, he found a small stone that he could put into his pouch to remind him of it later.
That's the first thing that came to mind after reading your entry.
By
newwavegurly, at 5/24/2005 2:41 AM
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