Morosophic Musings
Morosophic Musings
There’s a not-so-well-kept secret among socially conscious empaths. We don’t talk about it much, at least not in this capacity, because there’s usually so much joy in our passion—in our call for peace and justice. There is so much pure, unadulterated joy in the purposeful energy we put out into this world. But the truth is, the secret we empaths keep, is that every moment of our pursuit is marked by pain.
Aristotle said that in order to “live well” we had to make a plan. In fact, Aristotle expanded on a famous Socrates quote, “an unexamined life is not worth living,” with his own adage: the unplanned life is not worth examining. We have to commit to certain values we would like to live up to. These values can be as simple as: “practicing kindness” or as complex as “practicing forgiveness.”
Since the 2016 election cycle, how many minds have you changed with your self-righteous fact spouting? How many times has someone who you've offended by challenging their morality replied, "By God! You're right! I'm a terrible human being. I will read all the literature you send me and donate to several charities that will ensure a better future for our children. Thank you for your tireless commitment to knowing everything about this world we live in, and for steering wayward souls like myself in the right direction. I'll be sure to mention your name at the next Nobel Peace Prize committee meeting."
In that moment, my heart shattered. I knew that my son was well aware of racism, seeing as how we had just gone through black history month and it was fresh on his mind. However, the book never, NOT ONCE, mentioned anything about race. That was something he inferred with his knowledge that there are disproportionate amounts of people of color living in poverty today, and that many people who "need help" are people of color.
But, here’s the thing.
None of us really, completely, fit in the spiritual boxes that have been created for us. There are always exceptions. There are Christians that march in Pride parades. Jews that eat bacon. Muslims that don’t do their required five Salats per day. Atheists that believe in ghosts!
With the exception of violent or otherwise harmful extremism, there is no wrong way to practice one’s chosen faith, spirituality, or lackthereof. But time after time, even when we are rejecting our previous beliefs, we create new spiritual boxes for ourselves, often times locking ourselves inside.
Living with an undiagnosed illness can feel like living two lives simultaneously. You can feel fine one week, day, or minute; and then the next week, day, or minute, you are completely disabled. What's worse, living with an undiagnosed illness can feel like you constantly have something to prove. You feel like you have to prove that you're strong enough to push through whatever it is, but you also feel like you have to prove that you are really ill. In a lot of ways, for me, living with an undiagnosed illness is like riding a bunch of carousels, each one unique only in the way my body responds.
So, yes, I do understand the older generation in their "well in my day" rhetoric, but as we have seen throughout history, it doesn't matter what a woman wears. A rapist will rape. A cat-caller will harass. Women have been getting raped since the dawn of time. They were raped in floor-length gowns that showed very little skin. They were (and still are) raped in full burkas. It does not matter what we wear. It never has.
"Mom" is not an identity. When there are billions of people with the exact same label, it can not define you as something special. Being a mother can make you feel special, but it does not make you unique in any way. Motherhood should never be your defining characteristic.
