I don't think of myself or my opinions as right for everyone, I just know they're right for me. In fact, one of the personality traits that I dislike most about myself is my reticence to publicly be unequivocal about my opinions. I think it's a throwback to my need to be liked that keeps me from being that person who confidently shares their viewpoint with anyone who will listen on topics from capital punishment to the price of avocados. I've ended up keeping quiet and not sharing my personal feelings sometimes, even when I find others comments inflammatory.
I'm telling you now, though. Not in a preachy "my way is the right way" or in a "you're ignorant and drink the kool-aid" way if your opinion is the polar opposite of mine. Just in a sharing, this is me kind of way.
I believe that as human beings that share this planet that we can and should look for a commonality amongst our fellow inhabitants rather than focus on our differences so much. Are differences always that bad, anyway? The elementary school my children went to celebrated diversity - in fact it was something highly touted by the principal to attract new students. Yet in other contexts, I should believe that other cultures or races are just too different or their beliefs are too radical and that I should just write them off? My own family is multi-cultural: I am in a "mixed" marriage with a man of Asian descent and I have bi-racial children. How many of my friends, I wonder, secretly disapprove the choice that I made to marry Mike 33 years ago hard to understand or reconcile. I'm not suggesting we ignore cultural or racial differences because often, those difference enrich us as a society, but it has always helped me to find that thread of sameness to connect with people who seem very different than me. Doing it on a one-on-one basis - even if it's only as simple as a smile or a friendly comment while waiting in a long line at the DMV.
I think that I have a moral and social obligation to extend help to people in need. Mike and I live on a fairly tight budget, but as humans and Catholics, we try to help in whatever small ways we can. Do some people play the system and take advantage? Of course. But that does not justify throwing the baby out with the bath water to me. Some of you will be quick to label me a socialist or whatever makes it easier to dismiss me and my bleeding heart opinions. That's fine, go ahead. As I said before, I am not trying to convert anyone, just live my own life being true to my core feelings of right and wrong.
I am a rule follower and would never knowingly break the law. I tear up during the Star Spangled Banner. I hate the idea of anyone, anywhere going hungry. I believe in separation of Church and State and do not enjoy political commentary from the pulpit. I believe in "family values" but realize that the definition of family is evolving daily. I believe that if two people love each other and wish to make a formal commitment to each other that it should be cause for celebration and that the gender of the two people is irrelevant. I wish that older people were not as marginalized by society. I respect other opinions even if they are at odds with mine.
The take-away from this is that while I have my own beliefs that may or may not be wildly different from your own, I want us to get along. I want to get to know you better and not just coexist, but have friendships that flourish because even if I'm a Democrat and you're in the John Birch Society, we both love going to the movies, poking through antique shops or eating Key Lime Pie. The older I become, the more I want to savor each moment of my life - even the ordinary ones. And to truly savor those moments, it means sharing them. With my friends who will accept me regardless of my opinions, and with total strangers who will intersect my life at random times but will help to make up the tapestry my life on this earth.
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