It’s Stacy Rocklein. Out on my walk today, I got to thinking about domestication. There are so many things that we are domesticated to do and never really actually taught.
When you’re out on your walk, you see people and you smile or you wave, and there are rules that we all follow.
When you see someone coming who you don’t know, you walk towards each other. And even though you both know each other are there, you saw each other, you don’t look up until ten feet away or something. And you look at each other and you smile or say hello or whatever it is you do. Then you look away and you keep walking, right? If it was someone you knew or your friend, you’d be waving a block ahead of time.
The same thing with cars. Cars are going by and we smile or maybe wave if you’re neighbors or you know them or something. But I was just thinking…we follow these rules and wouldn’t it be cool if we broke them? If you saw somebody and they’re a block away and you just stare at them and keep looking at them, waving, yelling “How’s it going?”
How’s it going? That’s another thing. We walk by and say, “How’s it going?” And we really just want a one-word answer. That’s what we’re expecting, right? But what if you just stopped and started telling people how it’s going? We don’t do that, because we’ve been domesticated not to. We’ve just been trained through our experiences not to do that. It happens everywhere. And there’s domestication that happens just by telling people the rules.
So you keep walking. And I run into a stick. There’s a stick on the ground. Have you ever looked at something and just wanted to touch it? You wanted to see what it felt like? I think, “I want to hold that stick.” But I don’t do that, so I walk by it. I get closer and think that would make the perfect wand. That would be a great wand. After I pass it, I realize that somewhere along the way I decided that a grown woman doesn’t pick up a stick and start walking around with it and pretend it’s a wand. That wasn’t anything anyone told me that I couldn’t do. It’s just some kind of domestication along the way. We just do this.
If you’ve ever hung out with somebody who hasn’t taken well to domestication, they are so much fun. They just have this way that they relish life, and they’re super fun to hang out with. They’ll drive you crazy if you are trying to raise one. Because what are we doing? We’re trying to domesticate children. But, they’re super fun. It wouldn’t be hard for us to drop some of the rules we follow and do that.
So I’m sure you’re not surprised that I went back and made myself pick up the stick. And I brought home my wand, my new wand. Actually, the cool thing about this is that it gives me power. Now I have a wand, and I’m going to grant wishes.
So I can say, “You are now released from all of those rules and domestication policies that you’re following.”
Or I can say, “There. You are now absolved of all of the things that you are carrying as weights that you haven’t forgiven yourself for.” And if you don’t think it’s that easy, I promise you it’s that easy. It’s that easy if you allow it to be.
And, “I bestow on you the duty to go find yourself a wand.” Find a stick and pick it up.
Life can be so much fun if we let it be. That’s all I’ve got for you today. Have a great one!