Let the World Be

 

Rock with the Waves

“Let the world be as it is and learn to rock with the waves.”

Joseph Campbell

           This suggestion from Joseph Campbell sounds cliché, but I find it difficult to do. I always see the flaws, the mistakes, the half-steps that are never quite enough. I’m that person who straightens the pictures hanging on other people’s walls, tells them when a dress makes their butt look big, and corrects their mistaken ideas. So, the admonition to rock with the waves, go with the flow, take it easy, chill, relax—those are all Mt. Everest in my geography book.

          Here’s another high hurdle: let people be as they are, unless of course, they are harming someone else or themselves. I really want to interfere when I see destructive behaviors. I want to correct wrong-headed ideas, but I certainly don’t want someone else to correct mine.

How many of us think this way? And, how grandiose is it to assume we have all the answers and know how other people should live, think, and speak. Who assumes that their own lifestyle is the only valid one, and that anything different is simply wrong. Who is wise enough to dictate who someone else should love, or who should be allowed to marry?

As your family begins to make plans for the holidays, for shared meals and long visits, make a pledge to yourself to let peace reign. Allow them to be who they are, and you be who you are. Make a promise to yourself to simply keep your lips zipped about differences in politics, religion, and money. We don’t have to be right, and other people don’t need to be set straight. Just enjoy who they are, and who you are and rejoice in the differences. Not everyone is a petunia, some of us are dandelions and goldenrod, but we can all rock with the waves if we want to.

                                        In the Spirit,

                                        Jane