Ideologies...

"Any ideology makes me a little nervous because there’s some point where it doesn’t allow for the complexity of things." 

- Kim Gordon

(photo by Rolling Stone)

That's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.  Ideologies work until... they don't anymore.  I just feel that in order to stay vital and relevant, it's essential to be able to continue to learn and evolve throughout life.  Yes, we need guiding principles and values and ethics.  But when we learn new things, we've gotta be able to be flexible, to adjust, and assimilate them into our worldview - and not just reject them because they don't fit neatly into our previous operating system.  And when we meet new people with different perspectives and backgrounds, we've gotta be able to adjust, and assimilate them into our worldview as well.  It only seems healthy to stop every once in a while and evaluate whether our philosophies and ideologies are still working for us, just as we would for our vehicle or cell phone plan.  It's almost like computer software: we need periodic updates and improvements to work out the bugs, and to help us function optimally.  

And I think any kind of outlook or ideology that's strong and vital will welcome questions, conversation and dialogue with others, because there's no reason to fear, and maybe even something to learn...  Flexibility is a crucial, and often over-looked sign of strength.  Just as the yoga principle of 'building strength around flexibility' does wonders for the body's agility, I think it can do the same for the mind.  I'm not talking about being wishy-washy, I'm talking about being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and honestly consider things from their perspective.  It takes strength to acknowledge your biases, to remain empathetic, and able to continue to learn.  I'm wary of perspectives that are so narrow and rigid and subjective that they leave no room for differences in others, or for refinement and innovation.  I think that's a one-way ticket to intolerance, fear, prejudice, and ultimately irrelevance.  Over time, it seems only natural that some of our values will shift, based on our experiences and the phase of life that we're in, as well as changes that take place in the world at large.

It would be much simpler and tidier if so many things in the world were black and white.  But more and more I see the shades of gray.  I think most things operate on a continuum, and very, very few are absolutes.  I know many people who prefer to see things in absolutes because they find the simplicity comforting.  I guess it's just a matter of preference -  whether you prefer comfort, even if it means ignorance; or if you prefer informed, active realism, even if it means adjustment.  I suppose it also depends on whether you can see beauty in diversity and complexity...  But sometimes I see signs of strain in people who are struggling to maintain a certain unmodified ideology in the face of a contradicting practical reality, and it makes me sad, because they seem the opposite of comfortable.  

I understand why it happens.  And It's idealistic of me (ha!), but I wish we could be driven by more beneficial forces than fear.  I think it keeps us fighting amongst ourselves (and worse - within ourselves), instead of being all we might be.