It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything here. My life has been a whirlwind of failures and accomplishments throughout 2016, and as I sit here on New Year’s Eve (watching, I must mention, what looks to be shaping up as a blowout defeat of Ohio State by Clemson at the Fiesta Bowl), a few thoughts occurred to me.
I’d like to talk about safety. Especially after the political year we’ve had (in case it doesn’t become immediately obvious, I am not a supporter of Donald Trump), people feel insecure and unsafe. Even I, with my white male privilege, feel unsafe. I’m not sure what my short-term future will hold. But even so, I hope that the American people, and people all over the world, do not retreat to feel safe. Safety is, more often than not, stagnation. If we live our lives safely, we never grow, we never change, and we never achieve our full potential. Safety is a retreat from the world around us, and I have been just as guilty, guiltier even, than many others.
This is not to say that safety is a bad thing. “Safe zones” in schools are often targeted, but they are useful and, in my opinion, necessary. Not to be used as a retreat, of course. However, we all deserve the right to express our opinions without being challenged by opposing views. We need the chance to express our opinions, to know what we might feel or believe, before we are challenged by those who disagree. Eventually, we must leave safe zones and confront opposition. It is healthy, and an absolute necessity to growth and development. Staying in safe zones is counterproductive; using the safe zones as a cocoon, a temporary shelter from which we emerge even greater than before, is how we realize our potential.
The same applies to realms outside of university life. Everyone needs a sanctuary to retreat to, a place where we are protected from the hurts of the world and can regenerate our inner strength. I worry, though, that too many of us choose never to leave the safe zones in our lives. Too many of us retreat to the safe zones and become so fearful of confrontation that we fight tooth and claw to stay within them. Those who oppose us, who’s views differ from ours, see this and continue their assault, thinking that we will retreat and retreat and retreat. Retreat only so far, and then fight back. Retreat enough to take the raw ore of our beliefs, of our identities, which has become molten under the assault, and forge it into sword and shield.
Enter the new year as a warrior, prepared to stand for yourself and your beliefs. Do not spend the entire year seeking after a feeling of safety; search instead for a feeling of completion and accomplishment. I challenge all of you, and myself, to rise from the ashes. Rise like the phoenix, stronger and more beautiful than before. Rise, until what they thought was a lamb is revealed as a lion.
And so to all of you, Happy New Year, Buon Capodanno, and Prospero Año!
I’d like to talk about safety. Especially after the political year we’ve had (in case it doesn’t become immediately obvious, I am not a supporter of Donald Trump), people feel insecure and unsafe. Even I, with my white male privilege, feel unsafe. I’m not sure what my short-term future will hold. But even so, I hope that the American people, and people all over the world, do not retreat to feel safe. Safety is, more often than not, stagnation. If we live our lives safely, we never grow, we never change, and we never achieve our full potential. Safety is a retreat from the world around us, and I have been just as guilty, guiltier even, than many others.
This is not to say that safety is a bad thing. “Safe zones” in schools are often targeted, but they are useful and, in my opinion, necessary. Not to be used as a retreat, of course. However, we all deserve the right to express our opinions without being challenged by opposing views. We need the chance to express our opinions, to know what we might feel or believe, before we are challenged by those who disagree. Eventually, we must leave safe zones and confront opposition. It is healthy, and an absolute necessity to growth and development. Staying in safe zones is counterproductive; using the safe zones as a cocoon, a temporary shelter from which we emerge even greater than before, is how we realize our potential.
The same applies to realms outside of university life. Everyone needs a sanctuary to retreat to, a place where we are protected from the hurts of the world and can regenerate our inner strength. I worry, though, that too many of us choose never to leave the safe zones in our lives. Too many of us retreat to the safe zones and become so fearful of confrontation that we fight tooth and claw to stay within them. Those who oppose us, who’s views differ from ours, see this and continue their assault, thinking that we will retreat and retreat and retreat. Retreat only so far, and then fight back. Retreat enough to take the raw ore of our beliefs, of our identities, which has become molten under the assault, and forge it into sword and shield.
Enter the new year as a warrior, prepared to stand for yourself and your beliefs. Do not spend the entire year seeking after a feeling of safety; search instead for a feeling of completion and accomplishment. I challenge all of you, and myself, to rise from the ashes. Rise like the phoenix, stronger and more beautiful than before. Rise, until what they thought was a lamb is revealed as a lion.
And so to all of you, Happy New Year, Buon Capodanno, and Prospero Año!