6/28/17
I had a revelation. Most people that I know believe in a right and wrong, a black and white, a positive and negative, a good and evil. We are trained to think in this definitive linear pattern by our parents and our society, our judicial systems, school teachers, and disciplinarians. Sure, that system has value, but the concept not mentioned is the full spectrum of grays in between the black and white, as well as everything in between all the other endpoints. In fact, everything only has value in relation to something else. The yin and yang concept explains it best, I think. The symbol represents black and white, two opposing forces, melding into one another in a fluid nonlinear pattern, and each ‘side’ contains a little bit of the opposing side. There is a little white circle in the black portion of the full circle, and vice versa. Nothing can be purely black or white, or purely good or evil. Everything has a reason for being, if only to define the opposing quality. Animals have natural predators, and each species does their best to survive, using neither black nor white tactics. We are all part of one big food chain and a giant circle of life. Our actions, too, have reasons for being. Villains often have honorable motives for their treachery in movies and fairytales. On a spectrum between good and evil, many factors play into deciding the ethics of an action: society’s views, friend and family trends, community values, religious affiliations, and the current education system. Most of the time, this is a judgement call based on people’s biased experiences and what is currently considered ‘normal’ by the general public. In fact, the true essence of an action is hard to qualify. In life, most things seem to land somewhere in between the gray areas – and that’s perfectly okay. It’s up to us to make up our minds based on all the facts we learn, as well as by following our intrinsic feelings and instincts to achieve a balance.
