What next socks? – No shoes again

WHAT’S NEXT SOCKS?

No of course not—SHOES  AGAIN!

So taking a step back to the previous  entry (did you notice the foot/stepping reference/) .  I tried to use shoes as an analogy for trying to convince people that we can more than one attitude or we can change an attitude  if  that viewpoint no longer works for the circumstances at hand and no one should get  terribly  upset.  

It is nearly impossible to find  any sort of peace, let alone to promote  it if  we cannot  accept variations in viewpoints and changes when they happen.   It is also very difficult to find peace if we are not willing to listen to  each other’s reasons for picking a particular stance (look at that  another  foot reference-sort of).  In an effort to demonstrate  transparency … I’m a libertarian.  Now let me take a second just to make this clear.  That is not a liberal and it is not a conservative per se.  I just believe  that government serves some purposes that individuals  cannot  do by themselves, like have an army to defend a country or have a fire department etc.  On the other hand I’m not sure the government  we have  does a bang up job of keeping us healthy by not allowing us to use  plants that the universe has provided  us—but  I don’t  want to drift too far on this today.  What I wanted to say is that from my  perspective, I see no need for  the polarity  we are clinging to in the USA —we are smarter than that.  We are brave  enough to pursue multiple perspectives to find solutions to complex challenges.  I guess what I’m saying is we need to take our feet out of our mouths and talk—but not shout.  Like choosing the best shoes we can develop policies  instead of punchlines and  solutions instead of slogans.  

Now back to the shoes…. 

I’m going to use  Convers All-Stars as my  shoe  of choice because if I go back to “Red Ball Jets” not may will remember who much faster they made a kid run.  So let’s go  to the shoe with the classic  star on the side and drift back to the first time you laced up a  new pair.  For a while  you could run a little faster, jump a little higher, and walk a little taller.  Well I think it’s time we all tried  on a pair of “Peace and Joy  All Stars where we could  listen a little longer, run a few more ideas  through  our souls  before  deciding  what someone else is really all about, and worry a little less  about it when they decide to  change  one way or another.  

For unlike in the world of shoes—you don’t need the ones that everyone  else has.  You  are the only one who  has to be comfortable  with the places  you choose to make a stand.  You  can take that  pretty plain  pair of New Balance and put some neon strings in it  and no one  can really say too much.  You are the only you and you will really be okay if you  let others wear the shoes they need to wear.  

In short…I have worn out  (heels, soles, and all)  this analogy but I have a  shoe song that sums up the last couple days and that will be here  in a couple days.  

So  go ahead  choose your shoes and  start again on the journey  of seeking  peace and joy.  You will  find  a great deal of both…one step at a time.