Written September 25, 2013
I want people to live authentically. I want them to hunt deep in their hearts every single day to find out who they are, why they’re here, and how they can manifest what they see. I want everyone to live their highest selves and make a real difference in this world. And I want them all to feel, receive, and give love.
I don’t care if these people are bankers or nurses, artists or politicians.
I don’t care if they have money or if they’re broke.
It makes no difference to me if they are single or married, octo-moms or childless.
On a good day, I don’t care if they are Christian or atheist, Republican or Democrat.
And I really don’t care if they are gay or straight, female or male, transgender or bisexual.
All of those things are labels and although they come in handy for small talk at a dinner party or for debating in the public arena, every single one of them tells me nothing real about someone.
Shortly after I moved to Fort Wayne I had the privilege of being in a collective of artists that met regularly for several years. We talked about important, real stuff all the time. In fact, that’s all we talked about. So much so that for the first many years I never knew anyone’s last name, where they lived, what sexual orientation they were, whether or not they went to church, what they did for a living, or a host of other facts that typically define us. I considered these people some of my dearest friends, sometimes my lifeline, and yet I couldn’t have told you anything about them in the conventional sense. But I knew them well and I loved them dearly. Still do. They challenged me and changed me.
Much later I learned that some of them are indeed nurses and some are bankers. Some have money and some don’t. A few have kids, some only have cats. Some practice a traditional faith and some don’t. Some are gay, others are straight. One is a gay nurse with two kids who goes to church every Sunday. Who knew? More importantly, who cares? Learning all of these labels after the joy of knowing them at their cores shone a beam of clarity on a truth for me:
There’s no need to tolerate or accept, define or judge outer labels. The human connections that lie beneath, beyond, and within are what change us in positive, profound ways and ultimately shift the world.
