Connecting some dots

In a world where it seems more things are dividing us than bringing us together, I wanted to see if I could track through my life how I became aware of differences that shouldn’t, but too often seem to matter. Following are a few highlights of my journey. My experiences don’t make me any more inclusive than the average person, just reflect someone who has tried to understand and bridge gaps between the we/they parts of society from a young age.

It made no sense to me that when I was six and was a flower girl at my brother’s wedding, our relatives who were Catholic (they) couldn’t attend the Presbyterian ceremony (we).

I didn’t know I was from a blue collar family (we) until third grade when a new girl arrived. Her father was an executive and her conversation included words like dishwasher, cleaning lady, swimming pool, and flying to California (they).

While I marched against the war in Vietnam and segregation, I knew no soldiers and my world was lily white protestant (we). I was 25 before I spent any time with people of color (they) and a few years later, folks from the LGBT community (they).

Through college and my first fulltime job, I didn’t know I could aspire to a career other than what post WWI females did, until I met a businesswoman in upper management (we). But, even then, with a new target, I didn’t realize that I automatically accepted limitations on my goals until the term glass ceiling (they) entered our consciousness.

This was an interesting exercise that you might also try. What I see in retrospect is that with each encounter and subsequent learning that: a) I was surprised; b) my vision of the world was pretty restricted; c) I appreciated that my world expanded, even when it wasn’t easy; d) it is better to be for something than simply against; and e) it took a one-on-one, a relationship to make the issue more than a theory.

Marilyn