Day Two - January 7th - The Fillmore - "Walls" (and an introduction)

Hi, I'm Dan Tisdel, one of the participants of this experience.  I am going to post a few of my reflections as I go. This first one was from Day Two.  If you are interesting in reading more than I post, I will post others.

Day Two - January 7th - The Fillmore

The walls that separate us might be physical and obvious. They might be actual walls, or the way Geary street divides the poor Fillmore area from the affluent, vibrant New Japan area.

Or it may be walls we cannot see. Walls of sneers and downturned eyes. Walls of language. Language barriers. Walls between people who have and who don't. Walls between people who work and who can't or don't. Walls of education.  Walls of family background.  Walls of skin color, walls of ethnicity.
Walls dividing good, healthy food from other, less accessible, less healthy options.

There are walls all around each of us. Its surprising we can see each other at all.

Our society is built on building walls between each other. It's a huge waste of time and energy. Enlightenment comes with the understanding of the need to break down walls. That is a lifelong process and at best it will have a limited effect.

Because though we often rail against them, part of us likes our walls. We feel safe behind our walls. Because being in relationship with people who are different is scary. And everyone is different in some way. So we build more walls, even when we think we are tearing other walls down.

There is an interesting phenomenon about neighborhoods.  The buildings take on their own personality. You know when you are in a different neighborhood even if you never saw anyone. Maybe it sounded different, or smelled different, but mostly it looks different. Neighborhoods are defined by different ways of being, different ways of living. Not necessarily better or worse, maybe its all small apartments and condos, maybe big houses with small yards, maybe small houses with wide open spaces, maybe the houses stretch vertically, maybe horizontally.

People are like houses. They clump together, none of them look alike, really. But somehow, they fit in the same neighborhood.  It would be strange to see an 80 story high rise next to a log cabin on an acre of land next to a line of row houses with their shared walls next to a trailer park next the White House next to public assisted housing.

These neighborhoods are divided as sure as if there were walls and barbed wire and check points between them.

People are divided the same way.

I know I am supposed to try to answer the question "Why?" here, but I can't even begin that process.

There are far too many walls.  Some of them I built myself. Others were built by people I didn't even know, before I was born. Some keep being built by others even though I ask them not to and knock them down. Like a three year old having a temper tantrum with his blocks. Actually a lot like that.