Tuesday, July 5, 2016

July 5th and Beyond--Finding Meaning Behind the Holiday

OK, the fireworks have been shot off and the Parks and Recreation folk will be busy picking up after all the revelry in the public spaces.  In private homes, people will be gathering up bottles and cans, and scraping off the grill.  Ah, the price we pay for fun!

What if every day could be an independence day?

I know that a lot of talk goes on about the history behind the holiday.  For those of us who are history nerds, we like to root around on library sites and try to find out little-known back stories about our founders and the major events of which we were taught in history class.

That's great.  But what does it really mean to be independent?  That's something that I think we should be always considering.  During this current presidential campaign whirlwind, it's good to turn off CNN, step away from the Facebook posts, put down the newspaper--and take a breath or two.  Reflect on what the results will mean for you individually, independently from what others tell you they should.  It is our right, our privilege and our responsibility to take the time to do this.

I'm wondering what Thoreau (one of my heroes) would say about all the rhetoric and predictions, if we could channel his wisdom from Walden.  I'm going find my copy of Walden this week and re-read it.

I don't want this post to be a neatly-wrapped "How to be Independent" presentation  even if that were possible.  Rather, I want to challenge each person--and myself--to reflect on how to be more self-aware, which can lead to our knowing what we need from this world, and what we can bring to it.  And that, my friends, can lead to the noblest form of personal independence.

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