Odd Girl Out

Good morning.

Or so it seems though it's after twelve.

Skimming a weekly horoscope column: I was struck by the astrologer's use of the term cultural creatives to describe a segment of the population 50million strong. I researched this culture via the links provided and taking the quiz I was able to see that I'm a cultural creative type. Those values just made sense to me and are reflected in my decision to go back to school for an MSW.

I was born in 1965-smack in the middle of the civil rights movement-and as a young woman I was deeply impressed with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s ethic of nonviolent protest and social change. I cannot tell you why I was so affected by this great humanitarian because even to me that is a mystery.

On the cultural creatives homepage it demystified this culture for me and I could understand how I unwittingly joined the club early on in my life: first when I quit my supermarket job to become a disc jockey [a labor of love] and then when I abandoned a law library career [with its potential for me to make the big bucks] and chose public service as a writer and activist.

I would not judge anyone who makes the choice to chase money and the things it can buy. No no no I wouldn't do that. [Spoken from a woman who placed on layaway a polish amber necklace.] These so-called Modernists have a different ethic from mine: I would not be afraid to pay higher taxes to fund social programs or environmental measures. I wasn't afraid that Barack Obama would turn America socialist as I felt that could only be a good thing.

So even all these years I toiled away on my activism and kept my ideas to myself I had no idea I fit into the image of a cultural creative. Their core value is to live an authentic life. When I read that the word authentic was their keyword that's when it clicked with me: that I believed in a power bigger than myself and yet I intuitively knew that self-actualization results in a better world for everyone not just you.

Working on self-improvement is the core value of a cultural creative only we do not equate self-improvement with improving ourselves financially and in terms of possessing material goods. So that is the difference between a Cultural Creative and a Modernist.

My only trophy is the action I take to better myself and the world. The action itself is its own reward. Imagine: I have talked in here about living an authentic life and have done so as a cultural creative without realizing I could be considered a cultural creative. I couldn't not be one because my very act of being open and honest in order to help others heal is the hallmark of a true cultural creative.

Listen: you don't have to protest in anti-war rallies to be part of this population. The Wikipedia entry is a good start to examine this lifestyle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Creatives. The official web site is another good resource: http://www.culturalcreatives.org/

Exploring those web sites I could understand why I always felt like the odd girl out in my family of dyed-in-the-wool Republicans. I could see that it made sense why I left the town I lived in to move to the City. I didn't agree with the politics yet never knew exactly why those beliefs were anathema to me. I would only thrive in a world where I could be free to express myself and practice my faith in humanity without fear of reprisal.

Yes: this has been a heady blog entry. What can I take away from this? I want to meet people who are committed to a sane lifestyle because unchecked economic development and overpopulation and unethical corporate business practices are not sane.

We elected Barack Obama, didn't we? Now get out of the way and let him lead this country. It might be too much to expect our president to help us heal as a country yet certainly we would not be on our way to healing had McCain catapulted himself into the Oval Office.

It's not a white house any more. Neither is the world.

I want to tell people to get real and get with the program. 2012 is not going to be the end of the world. It's going to be the beginning of healing and transformation on both a personal and global level.

Only good can come of us.

I believe in a higher power. I also believe that this higher power works through every one of us and is in us. We can sow love instead of hate. We can choose to do what's right instead of what feels good. We can change ourselves and in so doing change the world.

Peace y'all.



p.s. - I'm uneasy with the idea that I could be part of a movement. To me, I'm just one person doing my own thing. I'll have to sift through this new knowledge and see what I can do with it to use it in a good way.