Mister Rogers was right. Each of us is special, because we are unique. In the wonderfully individual act of human construction, milliseconds or minutes can determine exactly how we will come to be. One cell steps out of line, and something changes. Something from Mom or Dad–or both–sometimes gets the address mixed up and shows up at the wrong party or at the wrong time, and again things change.
Once we are born, what we are is stamped upon us in invisible ink.
We have learned to be selective among our own kind, judging and misjudging equally, which is part of what makes many of us feel unequal. And yet we all go through a similar journey (similar, rather than the same, because as I said, each human is unique), so why do we become selective?
Fear and uncertainty have a lot to do with that.
What we don’t know or understand tends to make us defensive. The problem is what we do with that lack of knowledge. Often we ignore the call to understanding. So much factual information is available to help us discover how not to be selective about acceptance and judgment.
Our libraries, news media and the Internet are the water, and some of us are the horses, balking at taking a drink from the fountain of knowledge.
The reason the phrase “knowledge is power” is such an important message, may well be because lack of knowledge is so weakening. Ignorance should no longer be an excuse, when the world is open to discovery.
By now, you are probably wondering why I’ve compiled this lecture. After six decades of life on this planet, I am overjoyed to see so much attention devoted to inclusion, recognizing the uniqueness of each individual and discouraging bullying.
There are still problems, of course. We’ve probably all seen the “Karens in the Wild” and others who feel that nobody’s life matters but their own in the moment. However, we are doing something about it today.
I’m glad to have lived to see it, and that I am able to write about it in my own, unique way.
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