Well Said...

I read something beautiful this morning that I just feel overwhelmingly compelled to share on my blog. The best part is that the person who wrote what I'm about to share is someone who I love and respect so much and am proud to have in my family.  My cousin, Sarah, is two-years younger than me but in many ways is SO much wiser.

She graduated from William and Mary this past May and has spent the last 6 months in Peru, teaching English and exploring her interest in Latin American culture. It definitely hasn't been an easy experience for her, but from what you're about to read, I think you'll see that it has been a very valuable one. I hope she doesn't mind that I shared this...I'd ask her but she's currently hiking Machu Picchu! So, without further ado, here's a little excerpt from her most recent blog post, that tugged on my lil' heartstrings this morning...

...in an ironic way that I’m still coming to terms with, I’m grateful to the many Peruvian people who made me feel like a total outsider not worthy of their respect.... For all of these moments I am learning to be grateful because for the first time in my life I’ve been the one on the outside.

For the first time my demographic status as a white, middle-upper class, member-of-the-religious-majority, educated female doesn’t equate acceptance. I’ve now lived as the-one-who-is-different and have a great many thoughts and emotions that I’m only beginning to find words for. (Sorry for making you suffer through my first attempt at articulation.)

One of the easiest things to articulate is that being made to feel less - less qualified, less intelligent, less able to interact with others - sucks. In my upbringing I was always taught that everyone is equal and deserving of love, and I am fortunate to be surrounded by friends and family members who live out their beliefs of unconditional love. But I’m learning that for every time I profess to respect and love all people, I may have done something that inadvertently caused someone the pain of feeling not-good-enough-different. Because I know that many of the people whose words or actions left me feeling lower than low didn’t have any idea that they were affecting me that way. I know that, but it still hurts.

So, if you’ll let me, I ask and challenge you to think about the times you’ve been made to feel left out or different and remember how it hurt. Particularly, please remember it the next time you interact with someone you view to be different that yourself because of the way they dress and adorn their body, the beliefs they hold, their sexual orientation, the country they’re from, the gender they are, or simply the fact that you don’t fully know their story. Difference is what makes this world interesting and beautiful, and I know I’m going to try to be less threatened by it and more respectful towards it.

I pride myself in being "nice" to everyone and for the most part am really good about it, but I know that I've also been the one to make others feel less, and it hurts to know that I've caused that hurt because I know how awful it feels to be made to feel that way.  So, I'm always grateful for a little reminder, like this, to remind me that it really is all about how you treat people.