Why is it that the world loves ideologues? Monologues of philosophical content pervade; essayists and writers assume their voice is a singular one. I will admit that my voice is an amalgam and admixture of of many different voices I've experimented with in the past. I vacillate; I doubt; I am unclear at points in my writing. But it is to reflect the nature of my mind: a cacophony of dissenting voices that sometimes contradict themselves. My mind is a strange convergence of different languages, different cultures, different faiths, and different persons' advice I have chosen to accept.
I really really do not like antagonistic people. I hate the antagonistic tone some use against me or at other people. These people usually see the world in binaries: either you know the truth or you do not. These antagonists are really alienating themselves from the communities and people who could and would help them physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. If you see the world through a binary perspective, I can't help but point out how happier you could be if you were able to appreciate the value of an attitude of liberalism. Liberalism doesn't mean you are politically liberal; it means you appreciate other cultures and faiths and ideologies.
I have an ideology as well: tolerance.
In my family, everyone is an ideologue. We get into little debates and arguments at times about the littlest stuff. But you know what? At the end of the day, we are a family. We can overcome our ideological differences and come together and do fun things or do productive work like garden or clean or spend time with Molly, our dog. Within the context of our family, each of us can adopt an attitude of respect and tolerance. It is difficult. Sometimes, I get angry at my father for saying things I should, at times, logically internalize. Sometimes, my mother wants me to take out the trash and I'm too lazy; but I've told myself, 'Buck up, kiddo. You gotta do your chores.' Each day, I am reminded of how much my parents have sacrificed for me. I am reminded of how hard they worked to get to this country and to stay here.
This is my belief: that we could communicate through a mode of sincere tolerance. Oh, woe to the world that would teach us to be insincere! Would teach us to pursue a profession that we would never truly be passionate about. Would teach us to lie to one another and to ourselves. I too have been jaded by the world and how deeply dysfunctional it is when millions of children die of starvation and poverty each year. Oh, woe to the world that would tell us to be intolerant of certain views! And of course, certain views are reprehensible: bigotry and Nazism and the kind of extreme utilitarianism that would somehow justify the loss of human life for the preservation of a greater sum of life. But, on the whole, we have met radicals, all of us, and some part of us can't help but think how they think and feel how they feel.
How to deal with greatness. I am not great nor do I claim to be. This is for the folks who feel they are average. Who feel mediocre, day by day. Who wake up and just simply want to go back to sleep rather than go to work. Who don't really care about greatness at all. I write to you. I write to you who feel like you are struggling against some terrible and invisible force and are fighting with all your strength to hold on. To you FIGHTERS: you are GREAT. You are great because I tell you you are. You are great because there are so many things about you that are simply not present in 99.99999999% of the population. You are great because in your altercation with life you have chosen to continue the battle. You are great because no one will know how truly astonishingly beautiful you are.
Why'd I ask this silly question, 'How to deal with greatness?' Because it's really about how to deal with yourself.
