Overthinking

Since I was a little guy I would often over contemplate many simple things. One of my very first memories was standing in my front yard and starring at a dandelion. Well, more like studying the stages that the dandelions were going through. There was the young dandelion that was wanting to open, the budding dandelion that was in the middle of opening, the fully vibrant and open flower that poured out its bright yellow to all the world and lastly, the old dandelion that was discarding its seeds so that more flowers could live the life that it once had. I thought about this for a long time and it troubled me to think that that old flower had nothing left to enjoy. Then I wondered what they tasted like, and let me tell you something, they are NOT good eating. I did enjoy how beautiful they were though, so I suddenly felt the need to share their beauty with someone else. At that time my go to list of acquaintances was about as long as my overall list, I knew only my close family. But I knew this precious beauty had to go to the most beautiful woman I knew, so naturally I picked it for my mother. With the most pride that I had experienced up to that point, I carefully  plucked the bright yellow flower from its delicate stem and approached my mother as she was doing her gardening. I reached out to bestow this treasure unto her when suddenly I was shocked, her reply was totally unexpected. "oh sweetie, that's a weed." I had built it up only to be let down. Then I realized, I had no idea what a weed was! "so? it's pretty, right?", "No sweetie, we don't want weeds. We try to get rid of them." Devastation to say the least. It was an important lesson though: don't let labels control or guide you.

If we can't appreciate the beauty of things just because of presuppositions or societal labels then we miss out on so much. Of course, later on I came to appreciate how important it was to control weeds because of farming with my dad. But the lesson stands for all areas of my life. When information is spouted at you early on, it should be questioned. Why? How? These were and are the questions I often asked. I asked my dad so many questions so often that one year for father's day my gift to him was that I wouldn't speak all day. He loved it! I soon learned that if you really want these answers then many times you need to search them out on your own. I questioned authority at school a lot and I got in trouble a lot. Teachers didn't think I was a bad kid, just that I was unruly and I wouldn't believe anything just because they said it was true. I had a similar attitude towards church but I was met with much harsher retaliation when I spoke up in a religious setting. The thing is, this perception of what is beautiful and was is unwanted is totally subjective and it works both ways. I didn't find the Bible to be nice book overall but others around me did. I didn't want to make my assessment until I had more information but my opinion certainly stood in conflict with nearly everyone around me. In more simple terms, one person says that studying biology is amazing and gorgeous and another says it has no relevance to his/her life. Both people could be equally intelligent, fun and moral people but one finds beauty in biology and the other doesn't. Now, this is to say that appreciating alternative perceptions is nice but not totally necessary. But separating perceptions and appreciation of simple beauty from real world utility is imperative.

The person who doesn't appreciate the beauty of biology must at least understand that biology is an important science from which we have learned a tremendous amount about the world around us and through which we have benefited greatly as a species. I, similarly, had to realize that even though the dandelion was beautiful, I still had to treat it as a weed because we are living in a world where we need to decide which plants we want in which areas. Later on I could appreciate that more.

These are my thoughts on understanding where tolerance draws its lines. I like a flower, my mother doesn't have to like it. Somebody else likes a book, don't tell me that I have to like it and believe or I'll die. Another guy likes biology but he doesn't have to shove it down the non-appreciator's throat just because it's science. Just a few thoughts, no real, strong points. These are just some of the things I think about.