Wednesday, November 30, 2016
99%
Look at any other human near you.
At the barista making your coffee.
At the homeless person wrapped in a sleeping bag, tucked into the overhang of an abandoned storefront.
At your parent, child, partner.
Look at the person you consider to be your worst enemy. Look at the person who is your most precious friend.
All of them--all of us--are at least 99% alike genetically. (1) At least.
Think about that.
No matter how we differ in culture, beliefs, skin color, hair, eyes, shape, religion, political beliefs, family placement, personal choices, finances, career, talents, preferences, hobbies, abilities...
we are still at least 99% alike in terms of our most basic building blocks.
Compare this to other living creatures. Genetically speaking we are:
60-75% similar to a chicken (2)
84% similar to a dog (3)
88% similar to a rat (or other rodent) (2)
98.8% similar to a chimpanzee (3)
Now of course, this is a broad, sweeping comparison, and as I am not a geneticist this is a spectacularly nuance-less set of comparisons.
However my point stands.
As our human species tilts into a future with ever-increasing intolerance, ever-growing violence and ever-rising national and global conflicts, we need to consider why it is we insist on hating each other.
We are in a global casino, betting our existence--personal and collective--on a game of blackjack that is rigged. If we keep playing this game by the same flawed and superficial rules, we will always, always lose--until there is nothing left to lose.
Isn't it time to walk away from the game and find a new, better set of rules to live by?
A set of rules that encompasses scientific fact as well as the human capacity for ideals and inspiration.
I think Carl Sagan was right:
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” (4)
...and our starstuff is all equally beautiful, equally precious and ultimately equally fragile.
Sources:
1. http://genetics.thetech.org/original_news/news38
2. https://www.genome.gov/12514316/2004-release-researchers-compare-chicken-human-genomes/
3. http://education.seattlepi.com/animals-share-human-dna-sequences-6693.html
4. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3237312-cosmos
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Hopesgiving 2016
This year I'm giving hope.
I know it's blasphemous on this, America's fairy tale day,
where we celebrate a highly fictionalized meal
inspired by cliches of Native Americans and transplanted Europeans.
But this year I'm giving hope.
There is a time and a place to hearken back to the past,
to so easily learn the lessons that our ancestors had to learn the hard way,
through mistakes and pain, suffering and death.
And yet,
we insist on doubting past lessons,
fancying ourselves so evolved, so modern, so much MORE
than we were before.
Another fairy tale I'm afraid,
especially on this day.
So this year I'm giving hope.
I'm giving hope for the hopeless,
the fighters of unbalanced battles waged for all the right reasons.
I'm giving hope for the frightened,
who can't help but see a future of violence and fear
creeping ever so near.
I'm giving hope for the suffering millions
who somehow manage to live day by day
through hardships and horrors, deep and vast
and on so many levels preventable.
I'm giving hope for those with whom I disagree,
those I cannot understand. Those who were
willingly or unwillingly coerced or convinced
to misplace their trust and distrust their better selves.
I'm giving hope for our fragile, shivering planet
that daily we abuse and use and consume,
even now doubting the evidence that is roaring before us.
I'm giving hope.
Thankfulness is not the task of a single day,
nor is generosity and charity, love and respect.
Thankfulness is the core of a daily existence built on actions and words.
But hope,
hope is much more fragile,
much harder to sustain and so easily destroyed.
So this year,
especially this year,
I'm giving hope.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
My Self-Evident Truths
I've spent the past week writing increasingly bitter drafts of blogposts that I will never post. It's not that I'm ashamed of expressing my sorrow, my anger, my fear, my sense of free-floating betrayal that has nowhere to land.
I will never share these blogposts because sending more bitterness, anger and pain out into the world solves nothing. I may earn a handful of thumbs up, a few comments of either support or condemnation, and then I'll still be left with the lingering, bitter tastes of sorrow and fear long after the anger has burned away.
This is called self-control, and it is something that a wide swath of the American people have dropped like a hot rock.
I urge you to take a moment to consider the role of self-control in our lives, in our society.
Self-control is what urges us to get out of bed when the alarm clock blares at 5am, instead of just turning it off and continuing to snooze our lives away.
Self-control is what advises our brains to follow the rules of the road when we drive, to stop for pedestrians, to not cuss out co-workers, bosses, partners, spouses when their words or actions infuriate us. Self-control is what enables us to follow the laws of our country even when, or especially when, we disagree with them.
Self-control is what each teacher and parent tries to model, encourage, teach as they guide children towards being participating members of our communities and countries.
And here is where it starts. In childhood.
Whatever else I may or may not have in common with minister and author Robert Fulghum, I think he and I can agree that "everything [we] really need to know [we] learned in Kindergarten".
I believe this now more than ever. I have always believed it.
Within the bright walls and tiny tables of preschools and Kindergartens across this nation, across the world, new and tiny humans take their first steps towards the dubious goal of becoming adult humans.
And what are the first lessons taught in those first days and weeks of preschool and Kindergarten?
Watching eyes.
Listening ears.
Walking feet.
Kind words.
Hands of friendship.
Every student I've ever had started their year learning a variation of these five first lessons. The younger the student, the simpler the lessons and the older the student the more in-depth the lessons--but the lessons remain the same.
Throughout the year I build on these first lessons, encouraging my students to wrestle with the rights and wrongs, to join in conversations about the fine lines between themselves and others.
Everyone has feelings.
Everyone has opinions.
Respect yourself and respect others.
No means no.
Be the helper.
Ask for help.
All questions are real; there are no dumb questions.
You deserve to be you.
Our diversity is exciting and beautiful, but in our hearts we are more alike than different.
This is the foundation I have always built for my students and, I hope, for my children. This is the foundation that allows learning to happen because a community cannot work together if its members lack the self-control to simply BE together.
So what does this have to do with what is happening now in the United States, now in the wake of one of the ugliest, most divisive and horrifying presidential elections in American history?
Everything.
I will concede that the media feeds us the stories that will sell--and those stories are seldom tales of compassion and kindness. However it's not just the fickle media telling the stories. Now our neighbors, friends and acquaintances are telling the stories...
...stories about hate speech and slurs, racist, sexist, homophobic graffiti, blatant confrontations. Our cities are full of protests both peaceful and not.
Our citizens who look, speak or act anything but white and/or straight are being attacked online, verbally and physically. Our students who look, speak or act anything but white and/or straight are being bullied in their schools.
And yes, in some cases terrified, angry and frustrated members of our diverse communities are fighting back.
Blame is being flung--
-it is Donald Trump's fault
-it is Hillary Clinton's fault
-it is the fault of immigrants
-it is the fault of the media.
These are all wrong.
I would argue that, yes, Donald Trump has been a catalyst for the ugly, horrifying behavior we are seeing. His election was rife with a lack of self-control. He prides himself on saying what he thinks no matter how offensive or even ridiculous, and the confused, angry and/or frustrated swath of largely white Americans seem to admire what they see and hear as forthrightness and honesty.
But the real blame doesn't rest with Donald Trump.
America was born in the shadow of the same impulses, the same kinds of rationalization for cruelty and distrust that we are seeing now.
We have always had this shadow behind and beneath us. It has been there, diminished and waiting, when we've been at our best and it has grown when we've been at our worst.
This shadow trailed across this country as each state was claimed from the homes, lives and blood of Native American tribes that were pushed so far from their foundations that they barely recognized themselves.
This shadow followed each slave ship that docked and it rested beneath the feet of slaves yearning to be free.
It lurked behind the barbed wire of Japanese-American internment camps.
It has always, and continues to stubbornly drag at every person fighting to have equal rights--black citizens fighting segregation and racism, Native Americans trying to cling to their land, culture and way of life, women battling for control over their own bodies, women reaching out for equal pay and power.
The list seems endless.
This shadow trailed behind our LGBTQ citizens who fought and fight to be able to live their lives in peace, to have the right to love who they love and marry who they love.
This shadow has continued to grow, huge, dark and frightening, behind immigrants seeking a home-- or seeking to keep their home.
It is the shadow of intolerance and many times ignorance. It feeds on fear and frustration and breeds the confusion and conflict from which our wars and battles have been consistently born.
Perhaps as long as we are human this shadow is inescapable, for this shadow exists everywhere, in every human society.
But just because it is inescapable does not mean we should accept it.
The challenge of our species is to rise above this shadow. To accept that we are all eternally children, always growing, never finished learning, never perfect but also never without hope.
I have accepted this challenge. Now more than ever I must continue to learn, to grow and, if I can, to help others along the way.
And to live by the same rules I give my students:
Watching eyes.
Listening ears.
Walking feet.
Kind words.
Hands of friendship.
Maybe right now especially hands of friendship.
I will never share these blogposts because sending more bitterness, anger and pain out into the world solves nothing. I may earn a handful of thumbs up, a few comments of either support or condemnation, and then I'll still be left with the lingering, bitter tastes of sorrow and fear long after the anger has burned away.
This is called self-control, and it is something that a wide swath of the American people have dropped like a hot rock.
I urge you to take a moment to consider the role of self-control in our lives, in our society.
Self-control is what urges us to get out of bed when the alarm clock blares at 5am, instead of just turning it off and continuing to snooze our lives away.
Self-control is what advises our brains to follow the rules of the road when we drive, to stop for pedestrians, to not cuss out co-workers, bosses, partners, spouses when their words or actions infuriate us. Self-control is what enables us to follow the laws of our country even when, or especially when, we disagree with them.
Self-control is what each teacher and parent tries to model, encourage, teach as they guide children towards being participating members of our communities and countries.
And here is where it starts. In childhood.
Whatever else I may or may not have in common with minister and author Robert Fulghum, I think he and I can agree that "everything [we] really need to know [we] learned in Kindergarten".
I believe this now more than ever. I have always believed it.
Within the bright walls and tiny tables of preschools and Kindergartens across this nation, across the world, new and tiny humans take their first steps towards the dubious goal of becoming adult humans.
And what are the first lessons taught in those first days and weeks of preschool and Kindergarten?
Watching eyes.
Listening ears.
Walking feet.
Kind words.
Hands of friendship.
Every student I've ever had started their year learning a variation of these five first lessons. The younger the student, the simpler the lessons and the older the student the more in-depth the lessons--but the lessons remain the same.
Throughout the year I build on these first lessons, encouraging my students to wrestle with the rights and wrongs, to join in conversations about the fine lines between themselves and others.
Everyone has feelings.
Everyone has opinions.
Respect yourself and respect others.
No means no.
Be the helper.
Ask for help.
All questions are real; there are no dumb questions.
You deserve to be you.
Our diversity is exciting and beautiful, but in our hearts we are more alike than different.
This is the foundation I have always built for my students and, I hope, for my children. This is the foundation that allows learning to happen because a community cannot work together if its members lack the self-control to simply BE together.
So what does this have to do with what is happening now in the United States, now in the wake of one of the ugliest, most divisive and horrifying presidential elections in American history?
Everything.
I will concede that the media feeds us the stories that will sell--and those stories are seldom tales of compassion and kindness. However it's not just the fickle media telling the stories. Now our neighbors, friends and acquaintances are telling the stories...
...stories about hate speech and slurs, racist, sexist, homophobic graffiti, blatant confrontations. Our cities are full of protests both peaceful and not.
Our citizens who look, speak or act anything but white and/or straight are being attacked online, verbally and physically. Our students who look, speak or act anything but white and/or straight are being bullied in their schools.
And yes, in some cases terrified, angry and frustrated members of our diverse communities are fighting back.
Blame is being flung--
-it is Donald Trump's fault
-it is Hillary Clinton's fault
-it is the fault of immigrants
-it is the fault of the media.
These are all wrong.
I would argue that, yes, Donald Trump has been a catalyst for the ugly, horrifying behavior we are seeing. His election was rife with a lack of self-control. He prides himself on saying what he thinks no matter how offensive or even ridiculous, and the confused, angry and/or frustrated swath of largely white Americans seem to admire what they see and hear as forthrightness and honesty.
But the real blame doesn't rest with Donald Trump.
America was born in the shadow of the same impulses, the same kinds of rationalization for cruelty and distrust that we are seeing now.
We have always had this shadow behind and beneath us. It has been there, diminished and waiting, when we've been at our best and it has grown when we've been at our worst.
This shadow trailed across this country as each state was claimed from the homes, lives and blood of Native American tribes that were pushed so far from their foundations that they barely recognized themselves.
This shadow followed each slave ship that docked and it rested beneath the feet of slaves yearning to be free.
It lurked behind the barbed wire of Japanese-American internment camps.
It has always, and continues to stubbornly drag at every person fighting to have equal rights--black citizens fighting segregation and racism, Native Americans trying to cling to their land, culture and way of life, women battling for control over their own bodies, women reaching out for equal pay and power.
The list seems endless.
This shadow trailed behind our LGBTQ citizens who fought and fight to be able to live their lives in peace, to have the right to love who they love and marry who they love.
This shadow has continued to grow, huge, dark and frightening, behind immigrants seeking a home-- or seeking to keep their home.
It is the shadow of intolerance and many times ignorance. It feeds on fear and frustration and breeds the confusion and conflict from which our wars and battles have been consistently born.
Perhaps as long as we are human this shadow is inescapable, for this shadow exists everywhere, in every human society.
But just because it is inescapable does not mean we should accept it.
The challenge of our species is to rise above this shadow. To accept that we are all eternally children, always growing, never finished learning, never perfect but also never without hope.
I have accepted this challenge. Now more than ever I must continue to learn, to grow and, if I can, to help others along the way.
And to live by the same rules I give my students:
Watching eyes.
Listening ears.
Walking feet.
Kind words.
Hands of friendship.
Maybe right now especially hands of friendship.
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