A Strange Land

American woman, stay away from me
American woman, mama let me be
Don’t come hangin’ around my door
I don’t wanna see your face no more
I got more important things to do
Than spend my time growin’ old with you
Now woman, I said stay away,
American woman, listen what I say.

An ever popular sentiment, courtesy of “The Guess Who”

Nothing in particular against the Guess Who and their classic, but don’t you just love being stereotyped, being reduced to a caricature of yourself?  Race, religion, and politics what is going on when someone chooses to refer to you as a class rather than speaking directly to you, responding to you as the unique individual that you are.  It is a power play then, a way to trivialize what you are trying to say.  After all, if you can be reduced to a stereotype, then clearly you have nothing new to contribute, nothing to say that might require a thoughtful response.  The same old knee-jerk reaction will suffice.  Out of anger or fear, it is an easy response, but it doesn’t serve particularly well as a means of communication.

I have been found from time to time by various people.  It is an honor, a distinct pleasure.  Someone has taken the time and energy, having lost or misplaced you, to try to bring you back into their life.  There is a sense of wholeness and resolution.  Life has circled around again and you have been found.  A chance to begin again, to rectify the past, to resolve old sorrows. A chance to celebrate and rediscover, to see with different eyes .  It is a kind of rebirth being found, a taste of heaven.  My husband found me.  Both bittersweet and joyous, being found.