Who Am I?

            Or perhaps I should more correctly ask: Who am I becoming? I think this is a question for today that has come about directly because of our recent American election, which was overlaid with rank, anti-social themes. I am not just thinking about the shock and dismay felt by so many because of the election results; I am thinking about how the conduct of bare-knuckled behaviors, streams of insults and total lack of respect shown have created a kind of internal dislocation in the minds of ordinary, self-regulating people. Has this somehow made it ok to become uncivilized toward one another? Have the election events torn away the façade of social behavior?  Are we back to being beasts again?  I have keenly felt pain at what I perceive as the lack of respect we are showing one another. On the one hand, I see the desire for more kindness and reaching out, while at the same time we seem angrier and more disdainful of the “other” than ever.

The "other"....

It is no wonder that we find ourselves wondering who we are, especially as we remember that we are part of the “other,” and the “other” is part of us. Just recently I read a Letter To The Editor written by an obviously well educated, thoughtful, perplexed man who wrote, “I have never been so pissed,” as if he were totally surprised at himself. I think I know how he felt since I have had difficulty composing this blog. Is this it? Is this the lack of self recognition we are feeling?

Decent and indecent.....

Many years ago I read “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor. In it he wrote a statement that remains as startling today as it was all those years ago. He said, “There are only two races of men…decent and indecent.” Perhaps I’m being a bit fervent when I urge that we, the people, must not let the election anomaly make it necessary to ask ourselves which race we are becoming!

Yes, we may ask ourselves what can I do? How can I do it?... but always within the senses of self awareness and respect.