Outside the box?

 Think outside the box. How many times have you heard that expression? The box. What is the box? I struggle with that phrase because it requires me to overcome something that I know.  The box...if the box is a problem, means I have to discard everything I have learned in order to find a different solution. I try, but it is difficult to do.

What about our boxes? Life is filled with boxes. So many boxes that we must look like a engine  pulling a train down the street. Some boxes are inevitable and I can't rid myself of them, some I have assumed throughout my life and others were thrust upon me. What am I talking about? Let's take a look.

The one that is in the forefront right now is the "race" box.  I can't change this box.  I am what I am.  Then there is the "sex" box. I am female and while I guess I could change that, I probably won't.  That would just put me in "different" box. Or the "age" box. Now I sincerely would like to think my way out of that one but there isn't much chance.  I suppose I could alter it a bit with some plastic surgery but it really doesn't change the box itself, just the wrapping. And there is the "Mom" box and the "wife" box. So many boxes . . ..

There are also other boxes, ones that we impose upon ourselves. The "political" box that I have chosen definitely puts me at odds with some. Or the "religion" box which can and, sometimes does, offend people. There is the "employment" box which defines who I am by what I do. Or the "education" box that shows the world how smart I am, or think I am. Or what about the "insecurity" box?

But the boxes that bother me the most are the boxes that I am thrust into against my own volition. It is just not right to put someone in a box because YOU think that is where they belong. It could be a "protestor" box or a "rioter" box.  It might be the "wealth/poverty" box. But it is the "fear" box that is most disconcerting.  This is a box that has been created by man to keep me in a BOX. I see so many people who are afraid to live for fear they'll die. I hate to tell you this but we were all terminal from the day of conception.  I refuse to allow someone else to put me in this box.

I had an epiphany the other day while walking with a group of ladies.  Only one in the bunch was wearing a mask and, since I am new, I found it very disconcerting that I couldn't see her face. She seemed to disappear into the background. I couldn't see her and found that I didn't listen to her either. This "mask wearing" box concerns me greatly!  Not because of Covid-19, but because we are being separated, we are becoming non-entities to each other. And if we become faceless objects, then it will be much easier to be less compassionate, concerned or accountable. We need one another! Occasionally we might not like one another, but we still need each other. And if we can't see the joy or pain or indecision on someone's face, how are we going to understand or empathize with them. We have been thrust into the "isolation" box! Is it living if we reside in an isolation chamber? Back in the "day", isolation was punishment: standing in the corner, going to your room, solitary confinement. Now we are becoming a society that accepts isolation for our own good. Maybe this new box will keep me alive, but it has removed all the joy of living!

So how do we think outside the box?  Which ones do we try to dislodge from our lives.  It is a little difficult when there are so many.  I know that I am tired, tired of dragging along crap that for the most part is of no consequence in this life. I am a created being. Created in the image of God. And that is the only box I want to fit in. The rest can be cut away. What's in your box?

Just Writin' on the River Road