BEND AND FLEX

BEND AND FLEX

I have been trying to make some sense out of oddities that keep creeping up now and then.

For example, I went on a road trip the other day to a city called Chilliwack. There was a grand celebration of the unveiling of new murals in the town center. I came up with an interesting question for one of the key organizers: What’s the difference between a mural and a painting? Blank look. No reply. Then, “I’m not sure actually, good question.” The organizer walks away with no follow-up. He wasn’t interested, not even curious.

To get to the city of Chilliwack, located north of the TransCanada Highway, you actually exit the highway at a town called Sardis, not Chilliwack. The town and its boundaries have been intact for decades yet some people just cannot get their heads to readjust their thinking and get it right. When heading east, exit at Sardis to get to Chilliwack. It’s not complicated. Why don’t people want to get things right?

No one enjoys being wrong. A lot of people don’t like change. They are unpleasant emotional experiences. But, there is no strength nor glory in stubbornness. Both your words and behaviour embarrass the brighter people around you, and you yourself even look embarrassed and lost. Bend and flex. Nobody is perfect so allow your ego to take a hit now and then. Try saying something to yourself like “oh I am wrong. I am actually wrong!”

I can think of a personal example: recycling. The recycling revolution impacted me when I became a homeowner. When it first started, participation was voluntary. I was grateful because at the time there was no way I was going to separate waste. Everything would go into one bin without a second thought. Eventually the voluntary edict wasn’t working too well so policies changed in a way that my pocket book would be impacted. I reluctantly changed my mind and played the game. Eventually I woke up one morning and felt excited about taking out the trash in many separate bins: red, yellow, gray, green and blue. 

I’d stand and watch the pick-up crew empty each in separate sections of the truck and off they’d go to the neighbours and do the same. I still smile not only at the crew, but at myself for slipping away from being dogmatic about something I knew little about, to setting the dogma aside to embrace something new and important to me, and the world around me. Of course there will always be naysayers and skeptics, but that’s a whole other story. 

Another personal example would be stepping aside from mainstream dogma when it comes to trying to figure out life and how the world started. Dogma does not make sense to a thinking person.  When questioning and debating some of the expectations of various traditional or quasi traditional evolutionary theories, I realized that blind acceptance of things that were perplexing to me, did not sit well with me. I am not a ‘that’s the way it’s always been’ person. 

I get that some people need to hold on to the preordained explanations and theories about a lot of mysterious stuff, but nowadays a lot of people are stepping out of that mould. Some of those identify themselves as agnostic or atheist, others develop their own spirituality and understanding. It’s both daring and impressive. Bend and flex in action. Not blend and flex — bend and flex.

The moral of this story is: the world, like the Earth, is constantly evolving. Knowledge is expanding. We need to open the tightly closed box of preconceived notions, often blindly adopted,  and bring in some fresh air. Smarter decision making has become normalized for the greater good of all — don’t get left behind. 

When you stop walking forward, or walk sideways or backwards, what’s in front of you gets further and further away. You get left behind, left out. You do become the sad kid on the block. 

Not only that, the world and the Earth depend on constructive and responsible decision making for the greater good of all who live here, including the flora and fauna. That success depends on a diversity of people getting along, not necessarily agreeing on everything, but agreeing to walk side by side in real time with mutual respect and honour at the helm of decision making — yes, for the greater good of all.  

Bend and flex. Let’s not indoctrinate or assimilate or articulate dogma;  let’s walk forward together by opening the box in which we have placed ourselves or in which we have been placed, and let in the fresh air.