A song my father taught us when we were very young, in part, describes my personality. The song, "Don’t Fence Me In," is a simple one:
Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don’t fence me in,
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don’t fence me in,
Let me be by myself in the evening breeze,
Listenin’ to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever, but I ask you please,
Don’t fence me in.
Just turn me loose, let me straddle my own saddle underneath the western skies
On my Cayuse let me wander over yonder ‘til I see the mountains rise
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
Gaze at the moon ‘til I lose my senses
Can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences,
Don’t fence me in.
Many times in my life I have felt others, wanting desperately to “fence me in,” conform to their view of the world for me, and accept their vision as my own. I have always fought back against this. Not because I am all-knowing or even right more than 50% of the time. Rather, because to allow myself to be fenced in would make it impossible for me to continue to explore, learn and grow. As long as I am free to roam about and just happen on your pasture, I might very well love it and stay a while. Yet, should you decide to fence me into that very same, lovely pasture, I will likely dig my way out. Freedom to choose, freedom to make mistakes, freedom to say I’m sorry for mistakes I have made that have hurt others, and freedom to continue to explore and find out more about myself in the process, is what I truly treasure.
No comments:
Post a Comment