You've been squinting so long at the fine print, trying to find a loophole or a lie, that you've forgotten how to open your eyes and see the whole picture. ~ Mama Shey
Some people believe that one moment captures who we are - and they never let us grow out of that moment.
That's a problem.
Magritte's mother was found in the river with her dress up around her face. The questions are: how do we know it was suicide, and why did she do it? Magritte went on to paint possibly hundreds of portraits involving faceless subjects. I believe the psychology behind these images could be a fascinating study. What if we assume that Magritte was making a grand statement about individuality rather than just harboring a macabre memory of his mother.
What do we assume when we notice someone covering their face? Some of us see guilt, as if we are hiding our face from G-d. Others may see it as a means of protection. Some may see it as wanting anonymity.
What could Magritte's family have seen upon finding the mother with her face covered? Shame, mercy? What could be the point of being faceless? When you look at me do you see more than a face? If you take away my face, how do you see me, how do you find me in a sea of faceless women? Is there something about my essence that you recognize? To have your face covered can be a way of saying, "You never saw me anyway."
As with paintings, we usually only see the surface. Magritte has a wonderfully powerful painting of a man looking in his mirror, seeing the reflection of his own back. How often do we look in the mirror and see what we need to see in order to function...how often do we skew our own reality to save face? What are we hiding from?
Take the example of a friend whose pet dies. Do you project your feelings about your pet onto them? Do you find yourself saying,"Well if my Rover died, I would be heartbroken." It's not really about you or your feelings..stop projecting. Do you allow your friend to have emotions, desires, and wants that are foreign to you, or do you just assume everybody feels like you? Do you cover their face with your own? Do you take away their life and experiences thereby negating all their feelings?
Short sighted people, or people with tunnel vision never realize that behind each face is a different story, unique feelings and unique experiences. We are not cookie cut-outs that require the same attention. Take away the mouths that eat, the ears that hear, and the nose that smells, and you have a distinct personality. A true individual, full of life, color, wit, pain, secrets. Isn't it time we stopped judging people by our own life experiences and started meeting them at their own?
Reality is only what you perceive. Have you ever come upon the scene of a crime and listened to 5 different people tell 5 different stories...anger, sadness, aggression can all be confused. Joy and sadness can often be confused. We each look at things in different ways. We perceive things and compare them to our past experiences. Your reality is much different than mine.
If you have never experienced some one's life much less taken the time to hear their stories, then how can you "just know" that you're right? Take the face away and feel. Really see someone , or really see yourself for who we are. Your face is different than mine, so why do I assume you are, in any way, like me ?
Saturday, June 25, 2011
summer vacation week 2: Paul Klee has some issues
The second week is over and once again, my real struggle was with budgeting food. It's all worked out somehow, but let's face it: Jello is not the answer to everything.
This week in music we started with Native American music. It was interesting to watch the younger kids and how their expressions changed as the music changed. Native music has a soul and a purpose. Each song means something; praise, war, healing, you can hear the lament or the fury in the music. It's nature's music and it is beautiful. We also watched a documentary on Miles Davis and heard some of his songs. Davis was a character, but what really struck us was that he seemed to form bonds with some people, deep bonds that never went away even if he did. He was a huge personality stuck inside of a tiny frame. The documentary may have helped my boys understand that women liked to be wooed with candy (at least I hope they got that part).
Our starting artist was Toulouse-Lautrec. What a big life he led! Lilli learned all about prostitution and dancing this week and used it against me often. Lautrec may have been the world's first paparazzi...or a great marketing genius. Pick. He was a great and colorful choice. We ended the week with Paul Klee. Klee left us all feeling a little creepy. His puppets were not cheering or friendly, his paintings were not cheery or friendly. The kids did pay close attention though about the math and physics involved in his work. For the most part, Klee was all over the place. His subjects were so varied, and the colors were muted or lifeless. He made his point, but I' m not sure we fell in love with him.
We also studied Zoroastrianism this week. Explaining that there are only 3 tenets, and that it is the oldest monotheistic religion gave the kids a point of reference and it really was easy for everyone to grasp. We even talked about how men get built up to be a religion's founder...was he real, who was real. We then moved onto the Baha'i. There ha been a lot of drama and propaganda surrounding this religion, but I kept it all nice for the kids. They got to see the beginnings of the religion, the persecution, see how it spread.
We watched some home movies on YouTube of people's travels to Rome and their visits to the Sistine Chapel. We didn't discuss the Chapel or the art, we just took it all in via other's stories and experiences.
We watched a beautiful movie called The Secret of Kells. It is a gorgeous animated work that tells the story of the Book of Kells. After we watched it, we looked up some of the artwork from the book.
This week the kids discovered Gilligan's Island and I introduced them to the genius that was Mitch Hedburg. I hope they continue to laugh, I love to hear their laughter.
This week in music we started with Native American music. It was interesting to watch the younger kids and how their expressions changed as the music changed. Native music has a soul and a purpose. Each song means something; praise, war, healing, you can hear the lament or the fury in the music. It's nature's music and it is beautiful. We also watched a documentary on Miles Davis and heard some of his songs. Davis was a character, but what really struck us was that he seemed to form bonds with some people, deep bonds that never went away even if he did. He was a huge personality stuck inside of a tiny frame. The documentary may have helped my boys understand that women liked to be wooed with candy (at least I hope they got that part).
Our starting artist was Toulouse-Lautrec. What a big life he led! Lilli learned all about prostitution and dancing this week and used it against me often. Lautrec may have been the world's first paparazzi...or a great marketing genius. Pick. He was a great and colorful choice. We ended the week with Paul Klee. Klee left us all feeling a little creepy. His puppets were not cheering or friendly, his paintings were not cheery or friendly. The kids did pay close attention though about the math and physics involved in his work. For the most part, Klee was all over the place. His subjects were so varied, and the colors were muted or lifeless. He made his point, but I' m not sure we fell in love with him.
We also studied Zoroastrianism this week. Explaining that there are only 3 tenets, and that it is the oldest monotheistic religion gave the kids a point of reference and it really was easy for everyone to grasp. We even talked about how men get built up to be a religion's founder...was he real, who was real. We then moved onto the Baha'i. There ha been a lot of drama and propaganda surrounding this religion, but I kept it all nice for the kids. They got to see the beginnings of the religion, the persecution, see how it spread.
We watched some home movies on YouTube of people's travels to Rome and their visits to the Sistine Chapel. We didn't discuss the Chapel or the art, we just took it all in via other's stories and experiences.
We watched a beautiful movie called The Secret of Kells. It is a gorgeous animated work that tells the story of the Book of Kells. After we watched it, we looked up some of the artwork from the book.
This week the kids discovered Gilligan's Island and I introduced them to the genius that was Mitch Hedburg. I hope they continue to laugh, I love to hear their laughter.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Dearness of G-d
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value." Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 1, December 19, 1776
If we read a little more into this quote and take some liberties, we could continue on and say..."or see an America full of apathetic, spoiled elitists." I would like to apply this quote to our struggles with Christianity, and ask: Have we become apathetic, spoiled elitists when it comes to our relationship with G-d.? When I speak of G-d I would hope that you would understand that I want you to insert your G-d or your religion into the conversation. I certainly do respect your struggles with whatever religion or deity you have in your life, but I have to reference Christianity since I live in the South, and it is what I have grown up knowing. If G-d is an abstract to you, then please take this conversation for what is worth, and see my side. I would like to describe here what I want for my children in regards to their religious life.
Walt taught me to read by making me sit with him 30 minutes a night and read the Bible out loud. He did this until I was in my teens. Most nights it probably seemed like punishment to a kid, but I I developed a decent vocabulary and understood Shakespeare at 12.
If we apply the Thomas Paine quote to my life, I was most definitely handed G-d. As with my freedom as an American citizen, I believed everyone was or should be a Christian and everyone understood Christian tenants. I also believed that Christianity was the original religion and that Bible stories were "true". I had a very special relationship with that G-d. It was one in which I saw him as a father, and I talked to him as such. I was one of G-d's spoiled children. As long as I invoked the name of G-d then my parents, friends, church and community were appeased. If you believe that you are doing everything for G-d then people tend to back off. No one questions you, maybe because they respect you, or because they think you're just crazy..... Hardcore Christians have the attitude that it is better not to have friends than have the wrong friends. Basically, I didn't have enough people around me to even care why people never questioned me.
And then I met my thirties. I had returned to college and somehow fell in with the liberal intellectual professors. I was so intimidated. I sent most of my time thinking that they would find out what a phony I was and eat me alive. Horror is the only word for it. I didn't understand their conversations. They taught chemistry and environmental studies, time lines and eras. I was so confused and confounded I usually just came home and cried, but then I would read, and read...I couldn't fill myself up fast enough with the words. Then came philosophy. My mind was turned upside down. Reading Descartes's Discourse was not required reading, but I found some hope through the struggle. Philosophers were honest. They spoke of where the intangible meets the tangible. I found myself having a lot of "what if" conversations with my professors.
I spent the next year in sociology and developed a love affair with the study of cults. I also began studying ancient religions as a way to understand how Christianity developed and how cults grow. Zoroastrianism and Egyptology were the cornerstone of my education. I developed a relationship with Buddhism, a non-religion, that helped me to understand the teachings of the Christ.
Pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, but I lived with a deep anger too. I went to what I can only call "home". I sought out Sam, Tammie, and Chuck. The answers were : 1) look at the evidence. 2) pray it out, even if you have to yell it out. 3) find the intimacy in the struggle.
What I know now is that at the end of my 3 years wrestling, I felt like a butterfly. I understood freedom. I also had a beautiful outlook and a much better disposition. I emerged knowing what G-d was to me. I also emerged knowing that G-d doesn't mass produce relationships. We cannot project ourselves inside another person and assume that we know what they need from G-d or understand what part of G-d they see. To believe that you can know G-d the way I do is to believe that you will know my children the way I do. It is a spoiled elitist attitude that lets you believe that. And on the opposite side, I cannot fathom what goes on between you and the G-d you see.
For my children, I choose an education. Religion is what you learn. I want them to learn about the Mormons right alongside photosynthesis. I want them to understand what religion is and why people need it. I cannot force G-d upon them. I choose to gently show them, ask them and encourage them. I also have a habit of telling them "don't bring religion into this." Religion can ruin a lot. What I want is for them to see all sides of G-d and get to know themselves. I know they pray. They tell me they pray. I know they worship, I have seen them worship...what I do not require is for you or anyone else to watch them perform. They don't need to stand, kneel and bow in your presence to prove that they are working on their relationship with G-d. They don't need me to sprinkle their heads so I feel confident about their afterlife. You nor I judge them. They are expected to have a walk with G-d, and never to get comfortable. I don't ever want to be comfortable. I never want to assume that I can finish G-d's sentences.
Tim Gunn says "Don't over design." Well, My problem was that I let everyone's hands in to touch my spiritual walk, and I never got to see the real design. I hope that I can stay out of my kids' way while they are working on trimming the weeds, and bushwhacking the brush that will be their struggle to find G-d. And I hope that perhaps I will one day be "home" to them.
If we read a little more into this quote and take some liberties, we could continue on and say..."or see an America full of apathetic, spoiled elitists." I would like to apply this quote to our struggles with Christianity, and ask: Have we become apathetic, spoiled elitists when it comes to our relationship with G-d.? When I speak of G-d I would hope that you would understand that I want you to insert your G-d or your religion into the conversation. I certainly do respect your struggles with whatever religion or deity you have in your life, but I have to reference Christianity since I live in the South, and it is what I have grown up knowing. If G-d is an abstract to you, then please take this conversation for what is worth, and see my side. I would like to describe here what I want for my children in regards to their religious life.
Walt taught me to read by making me sit with him 30 minutes a night and read the Bible out loud. He did this until I was in my teens. Most nights it probably seemed like punishment to a kid, but I I developed a decent vocabulary and understood Shakespeare at 12.
If we apply the Thomas Paine quote to my life, I was most definitely handed G-d. As with my freedom as an American citizen, I believed everyone was or should be a Christian and everyone understood Christian tenants. I also believed that Christianity was the original religion and that Bible stories were "true". I had a very special relationship with that G-d. It was one in which I saw him as a father, and I talked to him as such. I was one of G-d's spoiled children. As long as I invoked the name of G-d then my parents, friends, church and community were appeased. If you believe that you are doing everything for G-d then people tend to back off. No one questions you, maybe because they respect you, or because they think you're just crazy..... Hardcore Christians have the attitude that it is better not to have friends than have the wrong friends. Basically, I didn't have enough people around me to even care why people never questioned me.
And then I met my thirties. I had returned to college and somehow fell in with the liberal intellectual professors. I was so intimidated. I sent most of my time thinking that they would find out what a phony I was and eat me alive. Horror is the only word for it. I didn't understand their conversations. They taught chemistry and environmental studies, time lines and eras. I was so confused and confounded I usually just came home and cried, but then I would read, and read...I couldn't fill myself up fast enough with the words. Then came philosophy. My mind was turned upside down. Reading Descartes's Discourse was not required reading, but I found some hope through the struggle. Philosophers were honest. They spoke of where the intangible meets the tangible. I found myself having a lot of "what if" conversations with my professors.
I spent the next year in sociology and developed a love affair with the study of cults. I also began studying ancient religions as a way to understand how Christianity developed and how cults grow. Zoroastrianism and Egyptology were the cornerstone of my education. I developed a relationship with Buddhism, a non-religion, that helped me to understand the teachings of the Christ.
Pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, but I lived with a deep anger too. I went to what I can only call "home". I sought out Sam, Tammie, and Chuck. The answers were : 1) look at the evidence. 2) pray it out, even if you have to yell it out. 3) find the intimacy in the struggle.
What I know now is that at the end of my 3 years wrestling, I felt like a butterfly. I understood freedom. I also had a beautiful outlook and a much better disposition. I emerged knowing what G-d was to me. I also emerged knowing that G-d doesn't mass produce relationships. We cannot project ourselves inside another person and assume that we know what they need from G-d or understand what part of G-d they see. To believe that you can know G-d the way I do is to believe that you will know my children the way I do. It is a spoiled elitist attitude that lets you believe that. And on the opposite side, I cannot fathom what goes on between you and the G-d you see.
For my children, I choose an education. Religion is what you learn. I want them to learn about the Mormons right alongside photosynthesis. I want them to understand what religion is and why people need it. I cannot force G-d upon them. I choose to gently show them, ask them and encourage them. I also have a habit of telling them "don't bring religion into this." Religion can ruin a lot. What I want is for them to see all sides of G-d and get to know themselves. I know they pray. They tell me they pray. I know they worship, I have seen them worship...what I do not require is for you or anyone else to watch them perform. They don't need to stand, kneel and bow in your presence to prove that they are working on their relationship with G-d. They don't need me to sprinkle their heads so I feel confident about their afterlife. You nor I judge them. They are expected to have a walk with G-d, and never to get comfortable. I don't ever want to be comfortable. I never want to assume that I can finish G-d's sentences.
Tim Gunn says "Don't over design." Well, My problem was that I let everyone's hands in to touch my spiritual walk, and I never got to see the real design. I hope that I can stay out of my kids' way while they are working on trimming the weeds, and bushwhacking the brush that will be their struggle to find G-d. And I hope that perhaps I will one day be "home" to them.
Monday, June 20, 2011
hydrogen, helium, boron
The first week of summer break is over and I have really enjoyed spending it with the kids. I wanted to recap some of what we did. One of my favorite things was the music I got to share with them. We looked at the Beatles and how they influenced American pop culture and changed the way we wrote songs, viewed music's influence, and how they shaped our heroes and villains. Through the Beatles we met U2, Yoko Ono, Charles Manson, Michael Jackson, Julian Lennon and the Monkees. The Beatles have touched nearly artist we can imagine...oh yes, Imagine. What a great conversation. We also took a look at Chuck Berry. Berry, having many many hit records, has provided us with Route 66; a song that has been covered countless times. Through Berry we get to see artist such as Depeche Mode, the Rolling Stones, and even the Cheetah Girls. There is a lot to Berry that cannot be nailed down. He spent much of his time away from reporters, and only recently did an interview with Rolling Stone. We let his music speak for itself.
We also studied some famous artists. Magritte was a great choice to start. His psychology bled into his art. Magritte is unmistakable. You know immediately what is a Magritte. Big, bold, colorful, filling. We studied Jackson Pollack and somehow this led to the kids taking over and showing me some really wonderful sidewalk art. Pollack became a snowball to lots of other artists.
A short time is being spent on the States. We usually look up travel and tourism spots from youtube which allows us to see the pretty side of what a state has to offer, as well as the big attractions. It's short and to the point.
I promised a Western, so I dug up a little of my past and introduced the kids to The Young Riders. It's in color, so that keeps their attention. It turned out to be a great show for the boys. There is action and gun-fighting, and names they recognize. The material includes slavery, the civil war, women's rights, property rights....a long list to be sure.
We also did the periodic table and will continue to do so. I love the periodic table. Our first course of business is to learn the first 10 elements. In song form. I am in heaven. Mixed in with the periodic table has been a book called 30 Second Theories which explains theories in physics. The chapters are short and easy. We also watched Nova Science: How the Brain Works...okay we watched it because Neil Degrasse Tyson hosted, but still, it taught us some basic principles of magic and perception. It lets us see numbers and letters in color. It was so cool...and ND Tyson..sigh.
Our week in video ended with The Dhamma Brothers. The documentary shows life inside an Alabama high security prison and how one experiment changed so many lives. It was tough and honest. It was beautiful and respectful.
Friday afternoon at 3.00 put an end to my first week. I closed with Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant. We didn't discuss it, or analyze it...we just sang.
We also studied some famous artists. Magritte was a great choice to start. His psychology bled into his art. Magritte is unmistakable. You know immediately what is a Magritte. Big, bold, colorful, filling. We studied Jackson Pollack and somehow this led to the kids taking over and showing me some really wonderful sidewalk art. Pollack became a snowball to lots of other artists.
A short time is being spent on the States. We usually look up travel and tourism spots from youtube which allows us to see the pretty side of what a state has to offer, as well as the big attractions. It's short and to the point.
I promised a Western, so I dug up a little of my past and introduced the kids to The Young Riders. It's in color, so that keeps their attention. It turned out to be a great show for the boys. There is action and gun-fighting, and names they recognize. The material includes slavery, the civil war, women's rights, property rights....a long list to be sure.
We also did the periodic table and will continue to do so. I love the periodic table. Our first course of business is to learn the first 10 elements. In song form. I am in heaven. Mixed in with the periodic table has been a book called 30 Second Theories which explains theories in physics. The chapters are short and easy. We also watched Nova Science: How the Brain Works...okay we watched it because Neil Degrasse Tyson hosted, but still, it taught us some basic principles of magic and perception. It lets us see numbers and letters in color. It was so cool...and ND Tyson..sigh.
Our week in video ended with The Dhamma Brothers. The documentary shows life inside an Alabama high security prison and how one experiment changed so many lives. It was tough and honest. It was beautiful and respectful.
Friday afternoon at 3.00 put an end to my first week. I closed with Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant. We didn't discuss it, or analyze it...we just sang.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
95 degrees with a chance of Westerns
So, I have roughly 2 days left and then the children will be mine for the summer. I don't have the theme days that we had last year, but I have a decent collection of stuff for them to do. I relied heavily on Netflix to help me through this summer. I have 2 good books lined up so far and am hoping for at least one more. The summer vacations won't start for us until September and then flow over into October.
I like it when the school turns the kids back over to me, but I feel a lot of pressure to keep them as interested as their teachers do. I feel pressure to push them through to more mature, adult conversations this year...and more thought provoking material. There are so many things I want to show them, but as in the past I will probably repeat some of what they have seen at school. I got a great video on Darwin a few years ago, one I had watched in college, and we sat down to watch only to have Lilli say, "We watched this at school." It made me sad, but thankful that the school was on the same wave-length as me. I realize I have to think out of the box, and throw in some things that are new as well as the tried and true love of my life: the periodic table.
This year I hope to introduce the kids to music. Music has started revolutions, religions, and rights of passages. I hope the kids can grasp what the Beatles did for history, what American DJ's did for history, and how music changes with each generation and in each country. I hope not to be American-centric.
I also want to get their hands a little dirty and explore art. I want them to see artists for who they are and dig a little to understand why art is created, not just look at it. I hope they will be willing to jump in and cut, draw, glue, and tape. Graffiti is still not off my list, so be prepared if you wake up to a colorful driveway one morning. Art for art's sake is not what I want, I want them to understand the emotion that goes into pieces. I once asked a friend if it was wrong that I priced my favorite piece so high that nobody could afford. He replied that he did it all the time. Art is a piece of you that you sell. It's not always "fun".
Michael's favorite movies are war movies, but this summer I am going to try to get the kids to watch some westerns...not my favorite genre, but looking at America through someone else's lens might be okay for awhile. I cannot promise that I won't sneak off while the movies are on. I think what I am really looking for in these movies is the historiography: what did the filmmakers get right? Did that really happen? Was that really the attitude? American history is re-written every day, I might as well join in.
I am also hoping to do some religious studies. A few of them are getting old enough that they ready to see some other cultures, other choices, other lifestyles. I had thought of having some friends come over and speak to the kids about their religious choices, but then I wondered if they would present truth in their talks as opposed to the "I am soooo happy" version you get fed at the airports.
The hardest part of the next 3 months will be the menu. I usually have a menu laid out far enough in advance that I am secure, but feeding them and keeping it interesting may be the toughest hurdle for me this summer. There won't be many meals out, or fast food breaks. There will be a lot of Kool-Aid and some grilled cheese, but I hope to teach them to enjoy food, cook food, and appreciate it....no matter how bad you don't like it.
This past year we experienced many of our friends move away. My kids are now the only kids left on this block. In all honesty, summer should be a time for playing, but there is a really selfish part of me that is glad that there won't be any distractions. I want my kids for the next 3 months. Summer is my time to teach them what I love, what I find funny, what I see when they aren't here. It's my turn to give them a little part of me.
It's like Christmas when they are home and I lock the doors and have real family time....all the while hoping they don't notice they outnumber me. A mutiny at my age would be terrible.
I like it when the school turns the kids back over to me, but I feel a lot of pressure to keep them as interested as their teachers do. I feel pressure to push them through to more mature, adult conversations this year...and more thought provoking material. There are so many things I want to show them, but as in the past I will probably repeat some of what they have seen at school. I got a great video on Darwin a few years ago, one I had watched in college, and we sat down to watch only to have Lilli say, "We watched this at school." It made me sad, but thankful that the school was on the same wave-length as me. I realize I have to think out of the box, and throw in some things that are new as well as the tried and true love of my life: the periodic table.
This year I hope to introduce the kids to music. Music has started revolutions, religions, and rights of passages. I hope the kids can grasp what the Beatles did for history, what American DJ's did for history, and how music changes with each generation and in each country. I hope not to be American-centric.
I also want to get their hands a little dirty and explore art. I want them to see artists for who they are and dig a little to understand why art is created, not just look at it. I hope they will be willing to jump in and cut, draw, glue, and tape. Graffiti is still not off my list, so be prepared if you wake up to a colorful driveway one morning. Art for art's sake is not what I want, I want them to understand the emotion that goes into pieces. I once asked a friend if it was wrong that I priced my favorite piece so high that nobody could afford. He replied that he did it all the time. Art is a piece of you that you sell. It's not always "fun".
Michael's favorite movies are war movies, but this summer I am going to try to get the kids to watch some westerns...not my favorite genre, but looking at America through someone else's lens might be okay for awhile. I cannot promise that I won't sneak off while the movies are on. I think what I am really looking for in these movies is the historiography: what did the filmmakers get right? Did that really happen? Was that really the attitude? American history is re-written every day, I might as well join in.
I am also hoping to do some religious studies. A few of them are getting old enough that they ready to see some other cultures, other choices, other lifestyles. I had thought of having some friends come over and speak to the kids about their religious choices, but then I wondered if they would present truth in their talks as opposed to the "I am soooo happy" version you get fed at the airports.
The hardest part of the next 3 months will be the menu. I usually have a menu laid out far enough in advance that I am secure, but feeding them and keeping it interesting may be the toughest hurdle for me this summer. There won't be many meals out, or fast food breaks. There will be a lot of Kool-Aid and some grilled cheese, but I hope to teach them to enjoy food, cook food, and appreciate it....no matter how bad you don't like it.
This past year we experienced many of our friends move away. My kids are now the only kids left on this block. In all honesty, summer should be a time for playing, but there is a really selfish part of me that is glad that there won't be any distractions. I want my kids for the next 3 months. Summer is my time to teach them what I love, what I find funny, what I see when they aren't here. It's my turn to give them a little part of me.
It's like Christmas when they are home and I lock the doors and have real family time....all the while hoping they don't notice they outnumber me. A mutiny at my age would be terrible.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wait, you're black??? Wait, I'm not???
So, today I needed to write and started about 10 different topics. I couldn't get my mind wrapped around just one so I said, okay Google...I feel lucky. I am not one who usually rolls the dice because luck really doesn't mean anything to me, but I smiled when I saw what Google offered...a picture of Africa. Now, I have never been there. I have always wanted to, but have never made it. Africa is higher on my list than Italy or France, or even Arizona.
There is a little debate going on about where human life originated. Most everyone knows and understands that life started in Africa, but there is talk that perhaps there were 2 great awakenings for the human species...one in Africa and another in Asia. In 2010, it was brought to light by the Christan Science Monitor that perhaps our oldest fossils have been found in Asia. http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1027/Human-ancestors-may-have-originated-in-Asia-not-Africa
What we know for sure is that regardless of where life originated all humans are of the same species. I have recently been involved in one of those family squabbles about race relations...(family: i.e. not people you need to talk to on a regular basis if you want to keep your sanity.) Of course, this family in particular is from another , older generation. Unfortunately, they are still allowed to talk in public, and sometimes they pass on their fears, worries, and opinions which have no scientific backing, to a younger generation. So, this blog is for the kids who have to listen to advice that was relevant 100 years ago. Still wrong, but relevant.
I thought human origin was covered in public school. So why is it that people still cling to outdated ideas and theories which have been proven false over and over again...? oh, yeah, that judgemental, I am better than you factor always rears its head, doesn't it? I don't think it's just because we live in the Southern, Bible-belted U.S., I think that race is a problem no matter where you travel. And, as unconvincing as it sounds, white people are not always involved.
I need my children to understand some simple words: equator, migration, change. The equator is the hottest place on the planet where the sun beats down. People who live at the equator are often darker than the rest of us. So, if life originated in Africa....yes! we get dark skinned humans. See, this is fun. Migration is what happened when people decided they no longer wanted to live in the same village with their mother-in-law. They packed up and moved, either to a different village or perhaps they were pushed out of their tribe for breaking a law and were forced to live on their own, hence migrating and finding new people to interact with. What they took with them were their traits, their language, their culture, their belief. These things then became married into a new tribe or they formed a familial tribe of their own creating new languages and customs. Migration let new foods cross territories, new genetic traits be introduced into blood lines, and created new social norms. It may have also provided an opportunity for trade and made a way for a new job: translators. What came next was change. As people migrated they had to accustom themselves to terrain, weather, predators, and housing availability. Because of this the people began to change. Over millions of years humans who migrated away from the equator lost their dark pigment. The size of our hands changed because we found new work. And if you haven't noticed, that little pinkie-toe of yours is not of any use and will probably disappear in a another 200 years. We have lost a need for our appendix, our tonsils, and that lovely yet amusing vestigial tail. We changed based on our surroundings, it is called evolution. You change to fit into your surroundings. Something that did not change though was our ability to pro-create.
Crows mate with crows, carpenter ants mate with carpenter ants. Humans mate with humans. See how simple that was? As we get older we are supposed to get wiser, so why do some of us reject common sense and science and still need old wives tales and ghost stories? Each race has a crippling disease that could effect a new born, each race has genetic codes written into DNA that could effect a baby. You cannot get a perfect child just because you mate with someone of your race because you probably don't know who your great great grandmother slept with and what kind of DNA cocktail is cursing through your own veins.
Life is short. Humans are plentiful. If you find one that you like who doesn't drink, smoke, go to jail every 2 weeks, and can have a conversation without grunting, then stop obsessing about their color. Maybe their grandparents just migrated too far away from the equator.
Tolerance starts at home, unless you live with white, southern baptist republicans, then Tylenol starts at home. ~ mama shey
There is a little debate going on about where human life originated. Most everyone knows and understands that life started in Africa, but there is talk that perhaps there were 2 great awakenings for the human species...one in Africa and another in Asia. In 2010, it was brought to light by the Christan Science Monitor that perhaps our oldest fossils have been found in Asia. http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1027/Human-ancestors-may-have-originated-in-Asia-not-Africa
What we know for sure is that regardless of where life originated all humans are of the same species. I have recently been involved in one of those family squabbles about race relations...(family: i.e. not people you need to talk to on a regular basis if you want to keep your sanity.) Of course, this family in particular is from another , older generation. Unfortunately, they are still allowed to talk in public, and sometimes they pass on their fears, worries, and opinions which have no scientific backing, to a younger generation. So, this blog is for the kids who have to listen to advice that was relevant 100 years ago. Still wrong, but relevant.
I thought human origin was covered in public school. So why is it that people still cling to outdated ideas and theories which have been proven false over and over again...? oh, yeah, that judgemental, I am better than you factor always rears its head, doesn't it? I don't think it's just because we live in the Southern, Bible-belted U.S., I think that race is a problem no matter where you travel. And, as unconvincing as it sounds, white people are not always involved.
I need my children to understand some simple words: equator, migration, change. The equator is the hottest place on the planet where the sun beats down. People who live at the equator are often darker than the rest of us. So, if life originated in Africa....yes! we get dark skinned humans. See, this is fun. Migration is what happened when people decided they no longer wanted to live in the same village with their mother-in-law. They packed up and moved, either to a different village or perhaps they were pushed out of their tribe for breaking a law and were forced to live on their own, hence migrating and finding new people to interact with. What they took with them were their traits, their language, their culture, their belief. These things then became married into a new tribe or they formed a familial tribe of their own creating new languages and customs. Migration let new foods cross territories, new genetic traits be introduced into blood lines, and created new social norms. It may have also provided an opportunity for trade and made a way for a new job: translators. What came next was change. As people migrated they had to accustom themselves to terrain, weather, predators, and housing availability. Because of this the people began to change. Over millions of years humans who migrated away from the equator lost their dark pigment. The size of our hands changed because we found new work. And if you haven't noticed, that little pinkie-toe of yours is not of any use and will probably disappear in a another 200 years. We have lost a need for our appendix, our tonsils, and that lovely yet amusing vestigial tail. We changed based on our surroundings, it is called evolution. You change to fit into your surroundings. Something that did not change though was our ability to pro-create.
Crows mate with crows, carpenter ants mate with carpenter ants. Humans mate with humans. See how simple that was? As we get older we are supposed to get wiser, so why do some of us reject common sense and science and still need old wives tales and ghost stories? Each race has a crippling disease that could effect a new born, each race has genetic codes written into DNA that could effect a baby. You cannot get a perfect child just because you mate with someone of your race because you probably don't know who your great great grandmother slept with and what kind of DNA cocktail is cursing through your own veins.
Life is short. Humans are plentiful. If you find one that you like who doesn't drink, smoke, go to jail every 2 weeks, and can have a conversation without grunting, then stop obsessing about their color. Maybe their grandparents just migrated too far away from the equator.
Tolerance starts at home, unless you live with white, southern baptist republicans, then Tylenol starts at home. ~ mama shey
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