A Week of Gratitude - Day 5

It's Sunday, and day 5 of listing three things I am grateful for.  I'm fighting a migraine which is fitting given yesterday's list, and I'm not in the best of writing head spaces, but I do have three things I want to list today.

1. The Arts.

Collectively, singularly, however you want to break them down or define them, whatever you want to include or whatever you feel might better be labelled something else, I am thankful that as a society we support the expression of each others creativity.  Theatre, dance, orchestras, artists, live performances of all manner - anything that expresses human emotion and experience, whether for entertainment or for engagement - I don't want to imagine a world void of such colour, context and commentary.

Through expression and interpretation we discover and relate to the world around us.  We shape our understandings through our experiences, our realities skewed by our perceptions.  Exposure to another's reality pushes our boundaries and forces us to reconsider our beliefs and our understandings.  We can be transported from the mundane routine of normalcy by a performance, or we can find deeper, fuller meaning in the stillness and quiet as we contemplate works of art.  Whatever we find or feel, our lives are enriched and transformed, even if only in passing.

And from here it isn't a stretch to get to my next item,


2. Diversity

I'm talking broad strokes in all it's forms here.  It's our differences that make us human.  We are each unique and bring different talents and ideas and experiences to everything we do, with everyone we interact.  How boring and useless would life be if we were all identical beings, exact copies of each other, integrated, united, homogeneity? No unique thought?  No individual preferences? No variations in style, appearance, taste or function?

Bah!  No. Never!

I may not agree with your point of view, but I am grateful you have one and that it differs from mine!
Same goes for your history, your ethnicity, your customs and your future.  The multitude of variations and subtle differences among us and between us is what makes life worth living, worth embracing, worth exploring.  They are the reason we have language and communication, so that we may interact with each other with greater understanding, for cooperation and mutual benefit.

Our differences make us stronger.

And that leads me to my third item today,


3. Unspoken Understanding and Acceptance.

We see this usually in close relationships between people or small groups - the shared understanding and agreement that needs no words.  A glance and a nod are all that is needed and both parties instinctively know and understand and agree together on the topic or issue at hand.  Couples develop this trait, so do parents and children.  You know that look mom would shoot you when she wanted you to stop whatever it was you were doing or else - and you understood what it meant.  Your survival depended on it!

But we can develop this type of understanding and acceptance on a larger scale too, in groups with shared beliefs and common goals.  And when this happens we can elevate the consciousness and connectedness of the group and can accomplish great things with less effort.  But it requires carefully attuned focus and concentration and a willingness to share with each other - in short in needs a level of trust in each other that provides safety and security for each other.  And it doesn't exist well where fear is present.

And I think that's why when I experience situations where real communication is no longer necessary to provide understanding, it just feels 'right.'  It's a connection in the truest sense of the word, effortless and natural, and I believe it is what most of us are seeking.