We are brought up with certain values. These values are made of stone. It didn't matter what we felt about them: they were there, they were real.
And so, in some ways, they remain. Within us, throughout our lives.
We develop our positions in relation to them. We rebel, or we develop individually away from them in a more thoughtful, discriminate way. Maybe returning closer to them after a while, maybe not. Yet our development is in relationship to them; they remain part of us.
So when society's values change we feel orphaned. The values we have molded ourselves around become just a curiosity of history. It was for us to develop away from these values, not society. We feel displaced in a strange world, a world that in some ways seems less real that the displaced reality of our childhoods. A valueless world, since the new values have no solidity, no roots within us.
But when was I entitled to use the royal 'we'?
4 comments:
You've just explained my father to me. Thinking of him as a displaced person, rather than a sexist pig, is much easier on my state of being.
We thank you.
This is so beautiful. I chanced upon your blog via google search. I run a blog that collects stories of displacement. I have taken the liberty to post your story on the site - with full credit back to you. If you hate it - let me know and I will take it off.
Everyday I learn how displacement has so many varied colors and shades.
'Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial "we".'
(Mark Twain)
I am not sure where you would (want to) fit in on this list. But I would read you even if your picture were a leering cestoda.
Thanks very much indeed, Lillipilli, Jinal and Thalia. It's great to be seriously appreciated.
Jinal: I am flattered to have this posted on your most interesting blog. Thank you.
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