I believe that in order for us to Be LOVE ;-) we need to grow and learn how to embrace others and ourselves and celebrate our differences….. Life is a constant journey of growing and learning. This TED Talk by Thandie Newton really touched my heart.
Thandie talks about how as a child growing up she felt confusion when she tried to be herself, and so she retreated inward. Not until she found acting did she feel that she could really be her self and that there is beauty in us all being different! And that despite celebrating what makes each of us different, at the core we are all one. I like to say we are all love.
I can so relate. Growing up I was blessed to have parents who did a wonderful job of allowing us kids be ourselves all while instilling a strong sense of being connected to something much greater then us.
So imagine the challenge I had struggling with DADT while I was in the US Coast Guard. I was working in a job I loved but was being told I was not allowed to be my true self. Was I really less of a human then the straight person working next to me? It went against everything I had believed. I knew I had no choice but to challenge the policy. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, while at the same time of the easiest.
So if we want this world of ours to get better…then we each need to start embracing otherness and embracing ourselves. Only then will things get better.
