Something a Little Different

                I've decided that I’m going to share a short story once in a while—not necessarily the entire text, but the title and author at least, and perhaps a link to it. These will be pieces that maybe I’ve shared with my class or relate to something I’ve been thinking about. Regardless of the reason, it will give you something to look up, ponder, and maybe even enjoy.

                Today’s feature is “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury. It’s about a group of nine-year-old school children on Venus who are anticipating the brief one hour of sunlight they will see, as this phenomenon only occurs once every seven years. One girl, an outsider who actually remembers the sun, and yearns for it more than anything else, is bullied by the class just because she is different and is locked in a closet. The children only remember her after the sun has come and gone. (I have also found a movie version, but it's not quite as powerful. I'll also need to look up the citation information. This painting by Robert Henri, Wee Maureen (1926), which accompanies the story in the literature book, also captures a few points of the story.) 

                I have a few thoughts, and I’m not really going to provide much commentary today, just gonna let things hang in the open.

1.       I know that weather can affect moods and behaviors, but what do we do about it when it does? Seriously, seasonal depression is a real, diagnosable and scary monster, but how often do we let that or other factors become a crutch to lean on out of convenience? More of this dependency is prevalent in our society today? What happened to self-reliance?

2.       How often do we get caught up in the frenzy of a crowd? How many times have you been a sheep, a goat, an ass, or any other of your favorite barnyard followers?

3.       How often do we allow others to be bullied? Are we much better than the bully if we just let things happen? There are many YouTube videos about situations like this.

4.       What happens when we allow others to crush dreams (whether they are our own or others’)?

5.       Why can’t we all just be nice?

Read the story and these questions might make more sense.

                In the literature book I collected this story from, there is a poem immediately after that I like more each time I read it, and I will share that. Then you have to go read the story on your own.

“What Do We Do with a Variation?” by James Berry

What do we do with a difference?

Do we stand and discuss its oddity

or do we ignore it?

Do we shut our eyes to it

or poke it with a stick?

Do we clobber it to death?

Do we move around it in rage

and enlist the rage of others?

Do we will it to go away?

Do we look at it in awe

or purely in wonderment?

Do we work for it to disappear?

Do we pass it stealthily

or change route away from it?

Do we will it to become like ourselves?

What do we do with a difference?

Do we communicate to it,

let application acknowledge it

for barriers to fall down?

                Poetically, it’s not my favorite, but the message rings true today…at least to me. We are surrounded by differences. This morning, on a lovely late-start-due-to-snow day, my nine-year-old was extremely upset that she couldn’t draw a guinea pig perfectly—just like the one in the supposedly “easy to draw” book. It took quite a while to help her understand that it her drawing didn’t have to be perfect; it didn’t have to be exactly the same; it’s okay to make mistakes or to be different in our attempts, especially when trying something new.

                I think we all lose sight of that. Let’s let go of petty differences—I won’t unfriend you if your beliefs, opinions, or practices are different than mine—let’s look at the larger picture of humanity. So…let’s be kind when encountering differences, especially with the turmoil and upheaval our world is facing. My advice for this new year: just be kind.