Which box do you put yourself in?

Things are almost never black or white. We all say that at some point but do we really mean it? Do we really live it?

My friend told me about this documentary he watched about a primary school teacher who got fired because she was also a porn actress. A police woman who got fired because she was also a dominatrix. Put yourself in her shoes. Put yourself in the shoes of a protective parent. Now put yourself in the shoes of a human.

Someone who wants to be committed to a person, also wants to have sex with strangers. Someone who is very religious, also likes drugs. Someone who wants to buy a house, also doesn’t want to be tied up.

The world is never one thing or another. It is a beautiful messy blend of all the shades of grey.

Do you consider yourself being accepting of others? What does it mean to be accepting of others? What about yourself?

Liberal (adj) willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one’s own; open to new ideas.

Okay. Liberality. Being accepting and open. Got it.

I have a big mouth and quite often I have this weird bitter feeling after I leave a conversation with a friend where I felt like I said too much. I felt judged. It takes practise and hard work to be comfortable with your thoughts and now imagine sharing something “weird” or “not normal” with a friend and them looking at you as if they are a priest and you just lit a joint outside of their church.

Being liberal doesn’t mean you are gay and like to wear fish net tights. It doesn’t mean you have to have dreads and vote anti-national. It doesn’t mean you protest all day long and trip all night. It means you are OK with feeling the way you feel. Once you accept yourself, accepting others is easy.

You don’t need be open to new ideas. Be open to just ideas. If you feel like it is too hard to accept a behaviour different from your own? Accept your own behaviour first.

I showed this funny video to my boyfriend last night where a boy gets caught by his mum watching tentacle porn. My boyfriend thought that it is so shitty that she (and parents in general) freak out about it.

Well, being liberal? Let’s accept that tentacle porn exists because people watch it. Because you watch it.

By putting yourself in a box, you kill all the shades of grey inside you. You kill all of it in people around you too.

Liberal (adj) willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one’s own; open to new ideas.

What does this mean to you? Which box have you been sitting in?