Blog #19 - Debriefing 1: Finding Meaning in the University Colloquium

The most important lesson I learned (or perhaps relearned) while taking colloquium this semester was that although it is important to care about the natural environment, sustainable living must also include an appreciation for the people in our communities as well. Sense of place is about being invested in the place that you live so that you are careful to treat it well as it nourishes you.

I dream of a world where every person is treated as a valued piece of the whole. I know that sounds terribly cliché, but it’s true. It seems as if all my life I’ve been searching for the other part of me; the other part that is wiser, kinder, freer, more attuned to nature. In every new person I meet I find myself looking for our differences, not as points of divergence, but rather as points of attraction. Imagine a pair of magnets. Their like sides whether positive or negative repel each other, but when the opposing forces are joined their pull toward each other is very strong. If only humans could treat one another like magnets. So often we search out those people who are like ourselves, and fearfully exclude those who are different. And not only people, but also new ideas, policies, politics. The familiar is held close and the strange is kept at arm’s length. But imagine what would happen if everyone chose to embrace diversity or even to seek it out?

I don’t mean to belittle the problems that plague modern society. Many ills like poverty or pollution or violence are the results of centuries of abuse and neglect, and that can’t be wiped away with a simple change in outlook. But the strength of any structure lies in its foundation. What better cornerstone is there for community building than the belief that our differences are not deficiencies, but strengths! I myself can readily admit that in work or play I tend to flock together with birds of my feather. But if I truly desire to live my fullest life, then I must learn to embrace the people who have attributes that I lack. In that way we can build a more complete world together.