I was struck recently by the number of people out there who
want to make you feel guilty for being who you are.
Whether it be the cynics who tell you you’re wrong to have ideals...
...or the pragmatists who tell you you’re wrong to believe in magic...
...or the conservatives who tell you you’re wrong to mistrust the class system...
...or the capitalists who tell you’re wrong to want a fairer redistribution of wealth...
...or the feminists who tell you you’re wrong not to see abortion as a feminist issue...
...or the socialists who tell you you’re wrong not to believe in revolution...
...or the New Age Children of Enlightenment who tell you’re wrong to see the dark side of human
nature...
...or the fence sitters who tell you you’re wrong to recognise that some positions
don’t permit compromise...
...or the religionists who tell you you’re wrong to deny their version of God...
...or the atheists who tell you you’re wrong to believe in reality beyond the material...
I could go on, couldn’t I? It helps to see that those who shout loudest are almost invariably displaying the surest sign of deep
seated insecurity. Nevertheless, it’s a hostile world out there, and one of the
greatest battles is the one you have to fight to be yourself. Not what the
system expects you to be, not what your own little corner of the environment
expects you be, not how your latest role requires you to appear.
The first battle is to recognise who you are and accept it.
The second is to live it. I’ve found the first to be harder than the second.
2 comments:
Then again, we do this too, even if it's only in telling everyone how telling us we're wrong is wrong.
The conversation continues.
Gets complicated, I know, but my main points were:
1) There are a lot of narrow minds out there.
2) It can be very difficult to remain untouched by the pressure to conform.
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