Where Are We Going, and Why am I in This Handbasket?

Liberals. Conservatives. Republicans. Democrats. Po-tay-toes. Po-tah-toes.

Labels. Even Blogger offers them. 

For many years, I called myself a liberal. For a little over a decade, I labeled myself an agnostic. I said I was a Democrat. In fact, I've done a lot of thinking about labels and the roles we play throughout our lives. 

For instance, I kept seeing my life playing out in roles:

Baby, child, teenager, young adult, wife, mother, grandmother, dead.

And I kept thinking about the amount of time spent in each role. You know, we spend a good three to four years as a baby, about ten more as a child, another seven as teenagers, young adulthood sticks around for a bit, and then...

Well, we all just seem to be in such a hurry after that. Why is that? "Wife, mother, grandmother" can actually happen within a span of 15 years or so! What's the rush?

But really, I'm digressing. Let's get back to the labels.

Religion:

At some point, I let the agnostic bit go. It was overused in my circles. I found Humanism (another label!) which seemed a lot less "prove it to me" than agnosticism. Humanism was more laissez-faire. As humans, we have to accept the fallibility of man. I could not deny my Jewish ancestors, though, and now define myself as a Humanist Jew. My culpability is limited. I am free from finding fault or blame with the universe. Rather than attributing goodness (or badness) to God (any god), I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of human beings. It belongs there. 

Politics:

For so long, I was politically-charged. I loved to debate politics and express my point of view. I adored getting my parents riled up about liberalism and conservatism (they're both decidedly conservative). But then, I got tired of being brushed off. Once you declare your "liberal" or "Democrat" label aloud, a good percentage of the population stops listening to you. To that percentage, you're not just wrong, you're a whack-job. And it's not a lie to say that I'm a conservative liberal. I like the juxtaposition, Number One, and Number Two, I am quite conservative on many subjects. How does a liberal say that they want to limit the power of our government without saying they're conservative? Wouldn't that be a conservative government? 

Potatoes:

Okay, I'm only kidding.

But, what is it with these labels? Why do we seek to be labeled? Is it, indeed, to define ourselves? Is it necessary in order to communicate with one another? Do we do it so that we can get everyone on the same page with regard to understanding each other? If you ascribe to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, then yes, that's it. He was right. 

That's old-school, Folks!


And there's nothing wrong with it. 


When you find yourself communicating with someone for the first time, it seems a lot less about who you are than what you are. 


I've really tried to get away from labels. But people need them from you. They need to define you; they need you to define yourself. We love neat little packages tied up with string. We are all little boxes that we present to one another. If you're looking for a job, dating, parenting, making new friends, burying a loved one...


You're making boxes. 





See you soon,
~Beth