Boxes

Recently I came across a paper I wrote in high school entitled "Boxes" - the first line was a quote from Pete Seager:

"Up on the hill there are some boxes. All these boxes are made the same. There are some green ones and blue ones, yellow ones and red ones, but they are all built just the same."

I had to laugh as I realized that I've been contemplating the boxes we put each other in for a long time. Boxes, categories, labels. We want so often to have people fit the boxes we have - to all be the same. We have found happiness in a particular way - ours is a good box. And we wish that for those we love.

But I am a rebel in many ways - constantly challenging a particular box or category.

If I said I was Christian - what image of me would you have?

A Republican? - What if I said Rockefeller Republican?

What if I used the term liberal? or Oregonian?

What if I introduced myself as a lesbian? What would you conjure up in your mind?

What definitions have you created for these categories, boxes - labels?

We all do it - we take a term and we identify with it and then assume that our definition is what everyone who associates with that term means. We define the boxes we are for - and the boxes we are against - we create the us and them by having expectations based on labels.

I do it - more than I want to admit.

The thing is - we are all so much more than labels that we use to define ourselves or that others use to define us. We are creations way more complex that any simple box can hold. We are not all the same. Our boxes contain gifts and surprises that can only truly be understood by experiencing. And we can only experience these if we are willing to put aside our preconceived ideas and reach out.

So the next time you find out that someone is one of those kind of people - stop and think why and how you came up with that box - that label. Then after you think about that - take a chance and find out what's really inside their box.