I am old enough to remember when folks got really uptight at one another over the seasonal greeting “Merry Christmas”. One group said we had to say Happy Holidays, which was ok with me, because there are a lot of holidays, and I always want everyone to be happy. Another group was offended because they felt the inclusion detracted from their specific holiday. They didn’t appreciate being told how to celebrate or what they were aloud to say. That’s ok with me too, I think we should all live “no particular way but our own”. As long as you aren’t causing harm I am apt to wish you good tidings.
In short, recently our worst problem was being too much in one another’s business. Maybe that was a warm up for this stretch. If nothing else, Covid has exposed the outlines of the puzzle pieces. We all fit together, even if only temporarily.
It feels to me like this is a tightrope act. We are learning to balance personal freedoms with accountability to the community. So far it has been a lot of confusion and pushback. I expect that will continue until we figure it all out.
Now is a great time to ask the big questions: what are we doing here? How can we get the most from this experience? And my favorite; why CAN’T we all just get along? Same species, same basic needs. What keeps us from working together instead of warring with one another?
