Food labels identify the food. What it is. Where it was grown/raised. What ingredients comprise it. How much fat, vitamin, fibre, carbohydrate...
Clothing labels state the size. What it is made with and who made it.
Like food and clothing, people are labeled. Liberal. Muslim. Fat. Fit. Optimist. Dreamer. Criminal. Rich. Weak. ....
A complex, unique individual is labeled generally by how they look, what they believe in, and even how they vote. This has got to stop. I am not, nor are you, one single thing. We are more like a recipe that the master chef keeps secret.
I am not my religion or lack there of. I am not the political candidate I support in an election. I am not JUST the tired Mom, the coach, the wife, the ex, the athlete, the girl who got poison ivy on her a$$, the daughter inlaw, the 40 year old.... I am not JUST any one thing. I am ME. There is nobody else out there like me. There are no two people the same, so it is time the labelling stops.
Easier said than done, when we also do this to ourselves. We give value to a title, such as Doctor, Professor, CEO, Celebrity, and believe with such 'labels', those people are successful, happy, rich, problem free. Similarly we assume that the low income earner, the homeless, and the person who lives alone, is poor, unhappy and lonely. We generalize to such an extent that we do not see how layered we actually are, and we believe that titles and labels are our identity.
It is ok to be a hippy who is saving for a BMW. It is totally cool to be heavyset and run a marathon. It is simply awesome to enjoy having men open doors for you while marching for feminism. The only single thing you are, is YOU. There is no mold. You can be any juxtaposition you choose. When we stop accepting a label, we can appreciate each other more.
Stay happy and healthy
www.jomoma.ca
Well said, my friend. Well said.
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