The Spice of Life

I was recently tagged in a post on Facebook: 5 days, 5 blessings, 5 friends. I'm always looking for the good things in life, so this seemed like a fun opportunity to take advantage of. It should have been easy. I keep a gratitude journal that I write in almost daily. As I was posting these things on Facebook and it was only 5 blessings a day, I really had to give it some thought.

One of the blessings that I came up with is Variety in People. I agree whole-heartedly with the notion that variety is the spice of life. Especially  in people! I don't think that there is a person alive who could stand to live with a billion copies of themselves. I know I'd be insane within a week-if not sooner.

It was ironic (or maybe divinely inspired) to me that not a few days after I had posted this blessing, I had a true taste of variety. I went to Salt Lake Comic Con. And oh the variety there...on so many levels. Rich, poor, tall, short, skinny, black, blue, purple, loud, quiet, wonderfully imaginative, plainly dressed, happy, scared, overwhelmed, fascinating, geeky, intelligent, amazing people surrounded me-in quite close proximity. It was one of the most fun, overwhelming, over-stimulating, fascinating, eye-opening experiences I have ever had. In all those emotions, I absolutely enjoyed myself. I think everyone should experience something like that at least once in their lives.

One of the absolute coolest things that dawned on me there is that in all that variety, I was surrounded by all my brothers and sisters. I remembered that we all share the same Creator. That God sent each one of them here at the same time as me. That I have a connection to every single one of them. In theory (and in my heart) I know this, but sometimes the differences around me stand out as something to be wary of instead of something to celebrate. In those hours that I was in a setting with so many walks of life with so many interests and backgrounds and cultures (real and imagined) I was connected. Everyone there was cool, and everyone there fit in. I want life to be that way, and I realize I have to be a part of that to make it happen. It doesn't mean I will celebrate every difference, or every action, or every decision that is different from mine, but I will celebrate the fact that we ARE different and that adds a lot of nice flavor to life.