Searching for my own convictions, not yours!

My sister used to have full conviction of what she believed in. She fought for what she thought was right, she stood up to injustices and had no problem being exactly who she was, she was eight. I am the apple of my sister’s eye, I have always been the exception to her rule, the person who could do no wrong in her opinion, and still, at the ripe old age of eight, she would plant her feet on the ground and tell me when she thought I was wrong. I didn’t admire my sister at the time, thinking she was simply a self-righteous brat who didn’t know how to have fun and was anti-social; I now realize that when my sister was eight, she had more guts and more self worth that I do twenty years her senior.
As we get older, we make concessions: political ones, social ones, we stand by and watch people be outcast and don’t stand up and protest because we fear we will be out casted with them, we slowly adopt this persona in life and we become safe in that little niche we create, we are the leader, the follower, the cheerleader, the happy one, the serious one… We are who we have grown into or what our micro-society has decided we should be.
The problem is, once we have adopted these roles that we play, it is difficult to break away from them. John Hughs had breaking stereotypes down, there was always at least once character who broke with their social protocol and the same character or some other one who was the moral compass of the group, speaking world truths and leading everyone to the light, or the characters who mattered anyway.
Unfortunately, in the real world, the fear of breaking away from your friends’ or family’s opinions tie you up tighter than you would care to admit, you sometimes find yourself not saying things because you don’t want to argue or because you are tired of being the spirit of contradiction.
I don’t have great political standings, I am a political being, but I rarely choose sides in a matter and I abhor people who are not consistent with their politics (both social and political) in life, and since this is most people, then I abhor most people’s moral standing on most things. I admire the freaks and weirdos in the world who have the gall to stand up to the majority and say “I will or will not take part in ______”. Bravo Stella Mcartney, for your veganness and for your ingenuity of making all-vegan clothing because you feel you need to follow your convictions.
I think most people see power in numbers, people group together on the basis of nationality, gender, color, political stance, fashion choices, clothing size, beauty… In that need to become part of a group, we claim to stand for something, which, in the end, as humans, we really don’t follow to a tee because we are just that, human.
I’m not blaming anyone for not being militant, Lord knows that I am the farthest thing from disciplined that there is, but if I’m about to give someone an earful of my politics, I better be damn sure that I follow this gospel I am preaching to the core, (NOTE: if this is you then disregard this blog post).
Take the environmentalist who chews my ear off because I cut down a tree at Christmas to place in my house: Do you always recycle? Do you always separate your paper from your plastic?
The animal rights activist who objects to my inheriting of my mother’s mink coat: Do you wear leather? If so, then end of story, one animal does not have more of a right to live than another, killing an animal is killing an animal, and there is no such thing as a more merciful death, unless all the cows are on happy pills from the time that they are born, if we could have the in a Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds state from the time that they come to this earth ‘til the moment they are taken to slaughter then you might have an argument. I am all for animal rights, but be consistent, I am, I am an equal opportunity murderer, you can call me such, I’m fine with that. But if you eat turkey, or veal EVER, then this is not a conversation I will have with you, go do your research.
It’s not the politics I have a problem with, by all means, re-recycle recycled paper bags, wear plastic shoes and plant 16 trees in your garden, hey, if you talk me into it, I might even go plant one with you, but it’s the zig-zag line that is drawn to make exceptions for weaknesses or slip ups that you might have that make your argument null and void in my eyes.
PAUSE OF RANT, JUST SO YOU KNOW I AM INTELLIGENT
I understand that one button battery can ruin sometime like a cubed kilometer of ocean water, that ever X pounds of paper we recycle saves a tree, which helps our oxygen supply. I realize that without heavy environmental campaigns that we wouldn’t get the message, I think we should all go green, and that governments should help subsidize individual environmental practices and somehow find a way to make them cost-effective and easy for people to apply. I also think animal brutality should be avoided at all costs. The difference between me and all the pain in the ass people that I have to listen to? I DON’T PREACH WHAT I DON’T PRACTICE.
END PAUSE
I take on small campaigns, ones I follow through on. If we are having a conversation about a subject and you want to hear my opinion, then you will get it in spades, but (I try) not to be a pain in the ass about things that I am not 100% on.
Politically, my friend Ilenia is one to admire, she cares about the social welfare of things and she follows through with her convictions, she works in the public sector, gets informed, helps out in her community, fights for the rights of those less fortunate, and I’m sure she does a lot more, her I can respect and I listen when she chews my ear off because she follows through on her convictions, whether I agree with her or not.
Probably the only thing I have recently taken on with gusto is buying Florida Orange juice, I’m not saying it’s a huge campaign, but since I was a Florida resident, I decided that I would support my local economy and my local growers, it costs me more money, but it’s my choice. I have since convince my mother and grandmother to by Florida, it’s not a big change, but it’s something, I have also (politely) educated friends about buying Florida. I WILL NOT chew someone’s ear off who is buying orange juice with coupons to buy a more expensive juice; the state local economy and the home local economy are different battle grounds.
I am not saying that you shouldn’t take a stand, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a cause, but when you approach me about it, be nice, don’t impose and tell me about your opinion, don’t preach to me, don’t be militant and for God sake, respect my right to differ with you on opinion, you will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, and I assure you, if you come at me the wrong way, I will disagree with you no matter what I believe in, just because you pissed me off.
My sister may have been a self-righteous, 8-year-old, pain in the ass, but she followed her convictions to the tee, I listened, and she eventually taught me stuff, about fairness, about personality and about how I hate being preached to by self-righteous 8-year-olds, but at least I learned something.