Sunday, March 21, 2010

Walls

Last night, while the prednisone induced kangaroo in my brain was taking a nap, I had an internal discussion about walls.  It all started when a friend gave me a word picture of some super fortified walls with me on the inside and people trying to scale the walls and get in.  If the environment had been different, we may have had a discussion about this word picture, but as it was, I had the conversation with myself.
Basically it boiled down to one main question:  Are walls good or bad?
I feel that walls sometimes get a bad rap.  People are always encouraging us to "tear down our walls" and be unified.  We are told that walls divide us along lines of color and creed, and this in a negetive sense.  When some one is closed off emotionally, they are said to have "put up walls".
I agree with the fact that walls divide and separate.  One of  the definitions of wall (according to Merriam-Webster) is "a material layer enclosing space".   Walls, by their very nature, enclose things and separate things.
I'm not sure however that this separation is inherently bad. A wall around a school yard keeps the children from wandering into the street and getting hurt, and it also keeps bad people from getting in.  It's a good thing to have a wall.  A wall around your heart keeps it from being broken by careless people, but it also keeps it from being loved by people who care.  It's both a good thing and a bad thing.
I think I need to examine the walls in my life and determine which ones are good and which ones are bad. I don't think it's wise to assume that all walls are bad just because they are walls.  However, by the same token, I don't think it's wise to assume that all walls are good.   I think somewhere there has to be a balance.  Maybe what I need is a good gate, a gate that is selective in what it lets in and out, but nevertheless lets things/people in and out.
I have more thoughts, but I just fed the kangeroo and it's waking up, so I'm going to stop now.

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