ignorance.

can i just tell you that my sister is absolutely AMAZING.

i got really worked up about something i read this week. and i just couldn't straighten it all out in my mind. so i emailed her what i read and all of my crazy jumbled mixed up thoughts about it all. and she straightened out  my thoughts and explained why i was so upset by it. haha

i am so blessed to have her in my life. she is a thoughtful, caring, giving, loving woman. she is in constant pain. but she is still able to serve as RS secretary, go above and beyond what is required of that; she is a mother of two; wife is an EQP Podiatric chief resident that is rarely home; she is a homemaker of baking, sewing, crafting, etc; she is a traveler; she is a shopper; she is the best sister a girl could ask for.

i look up to her so much. i know her life isn't easy and things do get to her too, but she is still able to do so much.

our emails about above mentioned reading material led us to a good discussion on accepting people. throughout my life i have written a good many papers on prejudice, bigots, racism, etc. i mean, it is a part of who i am. i am Japanese. at one time i would've been hated. i have brothers that are black. they are still hated by some people. i have been hated because i am white. i have lived a life that hasn't always been easy, but it has helped me grow into the woman i am today.

you can guarantee that i will NOT judge you based on: what you wear, the music you listen to, the school you went to, the books you read, the color of your skin, where you grew up, or anything else for that matter.

i may not not know much about a lot of those things that you prefer, but i will never say 'i do not like that, because i do not know what it is.' if i don't know something, if i haven't tried something, if i dont understand it... i do not judge it or hate it. i embrace it. because "the highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about." that is very common in society. you dont know it, you dont understand it, it is different from the way you were raised.. so 'oh, i'm just going to reject that because it is different from me' but that is the WRONG mentality to have. "the truest characters of ignorance are vanity, pride, and annoyance." we need to be accepting and try to learn to understand what you dont understand. because if you say 'i wont stoop to the level of _______ because i am better than that, so i dont need to understand it' what are you saying? yep.

i work in an area of this city that most people consider sketchy and dangerous. because it's full of hispanics and others. people that are 'different' than the people that i live around. just because these kids are different based on appearance, i dont love them any less. seriously. i love the kids i teach. they teach me just as much. i embrace their differences. i never want to live in a world where there are no differences.

I have accepted the differences of the kids i teach, my family, my friends, the people i live around. in this area differences are farther and fewer to come by. it seems like everyone is raised with the same LDS perspective, thus many people have the same opinions. so many shun those that are different. but is that how Heavenly Father has taught us to be? no.

I'm blessed to grow up in a family that has an honest interest and careful acceptance of things that are different. An interest in learning about things/people that are different thus coming to more fully accept that we are ALL children of God, and by embracing our differences eventually being able to see the fundamental similarities in all of us. a careful acceptance because we know we shouldn't be accepting of things/people that are just plain wrong. like bigots, KKK, etc.

If we are afraid of things that are different, if we believe that we are better than others because of our differences, are we being Christlike? are we having an eternal perspective of what matters? not at all. quite the opposite. Are we not all children of the same Heavenly Father? Who is it that wants us to think otherwise? Who is it that wants us to turn against each other and develop unhealthy opinions about each other? oh wait, that would be Satan.

I am so very thankful for the life i have lived, the opportunities and experiences my parents and my family have given me to learn and grow, i'm thankful for the differences in this world, small or big, annoying or understandable, the differences are an important part of we are. i'm grateful that i have an understanding of what an eternal perspective is, and that i can strive to have it in everything i do. i'm thankful for the ability to have my own opinion, and state it.

I know this post has been long and preachy, and if you haven't read it that's okay. and if you were offended by it, i am truly sorry. A blog is about stating your own opinion. you can say what you want, and i will say what i want. it may be in response to yours, but i dont see a 'blog rule book' of what i can and can't say on my own blog. just like you. :-)

One last note: