Automatic
Tapes
“Perhaps
the noblest private act is the unheralded effort to...open our hearts
once they've closed, to open our souls once they've shied away.”
Mark
Nepo
There
are people to whom we take an instant dislike. I'm speaking for
myself, of course. There are individuals and categories of people
who, just at the mention of their name, make our hackles stand up and
our lip curl. I could name some here, but I won't. It is an
unfortunate part of animal and human nature to take sides, join
like-minded groups, and shun our competition. We're tribal mammals,
after all. Evolution is struggling to move us away from this, but
we've got a long way to go.
Certain
personalities and manners of expression are like fingernails on a
chalkboard. I know people who cringe when they hear a Southern
accent—for whom categories of association pop up like question titles in Jeopardy. Racist, Anti-Semite, Hillbilly, “I'll
take 'Backwards' for 1000.” We have old tapes that get triggered
and run independently of our rational minds. There are a few people
on the radio, for instance, whom I simply have to turn off because
their voices make me want to scream. I don't know what causes us to
be this way, but I think it's stored deep down in our primitive
brain.
Please
understand that I am not condoning prejudice; I'm simply recording an
observation of both myself and others. We want to be open minded and
always kind, but we have baggage. I think the struggle against the
prejudice in all its forms is valiant and definitely worth the
effort. We can call our spirits back from bad thoughts, hasty
judgments and automatic responses. We can consciously stop our tapes
from running, and tell the voice that speaks rejection in our ear to
take a hike. We can, and we should, endeavor to open our hearts and
our souls to people who are different from us. It very well may be
that our long term survival as a species depends upon it.
Today,
practice opening your heart, and turning off the tapes. Your soul and
the world soul will rejoice.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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