Becoming
My wife, son, and I went to hear Michelle Obama speak for the tour to promote her new book Becoming last night. Full disclosure...I haven’t read her book yet but the message behind last night’s conversation was a poignant and thought-provoking one.
The former First Lady spoke of her struggles growing up in a racially diverse middle class South Side Chicago neighborhood with not much in the way of material things but decent schools and very little crime. She explained how quickly the fabric of her neighborhood began to fall apart in the late 1960’s.
This collapse was sparked largely by unscrupulous real estate developers who began a campaign to coerce white homeowners to fear their neighbors of color, sell their homes, and move to new developments in the suburbs. Ultimately the real estate developers were successful in inducing fear which sparked hate, racial division, ruined countless lives and a large swath of Chicago. Of course, the developers’ goal was to make lots of money and they accomplished that as well.
This scenario sounded very familiar to me because I lived through something very similar in the 1980’s on the East Side of Columbus, Ohio. Our racially diverse lower middle class neighborhood with good schools was decimated over the course of just a year or so by the crack epidemic. All families of any racial background who could afford to move elsewhere and escape the violence did so. My family didn’t have the financial resources to move so we were stuck there and had to make the best of it. Thankfully my brother and I survived with a superficial scrapes, bruises, and a few hard lessons.
While listening to the talk, I started ruminating about the person I was becoming. I contemplated how much differently I think about politics since joining Steemit and getting involved in the blockchain/cryptocurrency movement. After being exposed to so many people of different countries, cultures, and opinions on this platform and through travel I feel much more like a citizen of the world.
We are all truly the sum of the people we spend the most time with. Just a little over two years ago I made many more emotion-based decisions instead of thinking critically. I also tended to blindly trust people more than I do now and sometimes suffered the consequences. Today, I feel much more comfortable in my own skin and in control of the trajectory of my future. I have many people in this space to thank for that.
All in all, the talk was worth the price of admission because it sparked the stream of consciousness that arrived at a valuable realization. In this physical world change truly is the only constant and if we're not changing and developing each and every day we're falling behind. If we're not working hard to define ourselves someone else will try to do it for us.
Which begs the question...Who Are You Becoming?
Thank you for reading,
Eric
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
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It seems to me that in this issue we are not developing. I myself have refugee status, I have to move to another country in 1997, precisely because I am of a different nationality and faith. For me, people have always been equal, no matter what color their skin is, so long as the person is good, but most people on our planet don't think so
Unfortunately prejudice is on the rise in a lot of places, including the U.S. I agree that we should be judged by the content of our character.
I think I'm hating who I'm becoming, because I'm becoming more emotional, more attached and like you more attached, on my own it makes me more vulnerable and well it may be the blockchain and how the system works or just personal stuff, however I think that Michelle's book will be a must read.
I think emotion can be a good thing as long as we don't make rash decisions based on emotion. I have been guilty of that in the past. I plan on reading the book too.
Definitely true if you ask me, emotion comes in two packages, and lately for me it's been rash decisions, so could be that I needed to set my head straight, thanks a whole lot for talking about the book
The almost 3 years I have spend on Steem have changed my ideas of how I view the world completely.
In that regard it's been a huge privilege to have seen a new 'society' grow up from it infancy to what it is now and everything that comes with it.
I have learned lessons I will take with me for the rest of my life.
What am I becoming? Not sure, I guess all I can say is that I understand the 'real' world much better now.
Thank you for this nice post!
You're welcome, thanks for the comment! I feel the same way @exyle, it has been a great privilege that very few get to experience. This place has been the genesis of so much good and a some bad too but, in the end, it's all a lesson to learn from.
A couple of days ago I watched a TV show (on a Italian channel) about the book of Michelle Obama and it was really interesting for me, especially to hear what she said about her life during the interview. I think she's really a charismatic woman and I really think she's a great example to follow!
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She's very charismatic and was fun to listen to. The hour and a half really went quickly!
SO TRUE! Love learning and developing with you homeboy!!
Thank you and likewise, my friend! What an exciting journey we’re on!
In principle, I've been following Michelle Obama's footsteps for a long time. Not only does she seem to me to be a wonderful, charismatic woman, but also an intelligent, brave, a leader. Two more things: incredible as the racial phenomenon, of discrimination, has returned to some countries that thought they were healthy of that disease. I have always believed that if the evils return, it is because they were not eliminated at the root. As for what I am becoming, I think I have matured very quickly, I feel that the situation in my country has taken some things away from me, which I would have liked to have lived. But they say that in the darkest nights it is when the stars shine the most, here I continue to put a good face to life. Hugs, @ericvancewalton.
I have always believed that if the evils return, it is because they were not eliminated at the root. What you said there is very true and also very important. Nationalism is making a sweeping and dangerous comeback and it's a sure sign that many people didn't learn from the mistakes of the past. Thank you for your wonderful comment, @nancybriti!
These are the conversations that are worthwhile to hear, those that really sensitize because it is a real story, of what the exponent really lived. In those cases we feel identified. If we all change to improve society, it would be a good job, but not everyone is willing to change.
I am becoming less partisan as i try and listen to stories from all sides of the political spectrum, whereas before I simply dismissed any right-wing views and blindly subscribed to left-wing ones.
So all in all I think I'm becoming more balanced, however this post-truth world we're living in today has definitely made me less patient and less tolerant.
Cg
I can relate to that @cryptogee. I’m becoming less partisan as well. At this age I appreciate the importance of the middle ground and coming to a certain consensus. It can be so frustrating to see people unwittingly persuaded into extreme ideologies for the sake of the powerful getting what they want.
Some good food for thought and I like that you successfully made your realizations in to a post - hard to do :-). Also very important message for today the spring equinox which coupled with the full moon is an amazing super duper charged day for metaphorically planting the seeds of who we are and how we bring ourselves out in the world!
Thank you, @natureofbeing! Ahh, the spring equinox. The snow is finally melting here, there's no denying warmer days are ahead.
You feel much more like a citizen of the world. Great thinking dear . We all are human first then others things .