If you are wondering about the title this week it doesn't mean I've started a new career in fashion. I am talking about modeling of behavior in this post.
One of the things I've noticed in the past few years is how dependent we are on role models. While we are adept at figuring things out, our behavior patterns originate mostly from what we observe around us. This is true of both good and bad patterns. We don't learn discernment until much later in our life, and again if it isn't properly modeled for us it can be quite the baptism by fire. Our models can show us what not to do, and those can be instructive. However, I find the modeling of healthy patterns far more useful as they seem to be in short supply these days.
I struggle with selfishness. In the past few years though I have seen true generosity from people. I have seen thoughtfulness in action, and because of this some of my behaviors are changing. It's not that I am cruel, some things just literally never occurred to me until I saw someone else doing them. I've also been privileged to have teachers who model healthy compassionate boundaries that allow for self respect and the respect of others. Good boundaries oddly enough honor others as much as ourselves. Again it's something I had to witness in action before I could emulate it.
I think all that is going on in the world today is not so much because people are bad, but because they haven't been shown anything better. I keep thinking back to all the media I consumed as a kid growing up, and just how much garbage was in it. There were the ideas, "The good are the mighty, destroying your enemies is the solution, if you do something hard you get the girl." In real life these things don't play out so well. Most people are not archetypal characters. Heroes and villains are rarely so simply defined. People are complex, but our mainstream models are simplified, generic, and often outdated. When you start to dig into people's real motivation it is rarely if ever to foment evil in the realm. This makes me feel lied to by all those Saturday morning cartoons. Evil often wears the face of righteousness quite effectively.
So why am I telling you this? Well right now we have some really terrible role models on the global scene. Culturally we are still playing old stereotypes in our movies and television programming. We need good people modeling how to get along with each other, how to care for each other, and how to care for ourselves.
How about you? Do you have people modeling healthy interaction patterns around you? What about your actions? We are all a model to someone else sometime in our life. It could be someone you know or it could be a stranger, but the smallest act of kindness or cruelty from you could change the course of someone's life and the lives of the people around them. The behavior you choose to model could literally change the world. So when you get discouraged and think the tiny bit of good you've done can't help in a world gone mad, think again. You don't know who's watching, and you don't know how far they will take what they learn from you.
Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle
Beautiful Thomas! Thank you!!!
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