Diverse City

Hmmm....one thing I love about people is their differences! Yeah, exactly....what makes people uinque and different from others is what really gets me intereseted in a person. I like to meet someone who has a little flare in their style. A person who may say some words I am not used to hearing. A person who kinda stands out in a crowd - is the person I am drawn to.
Perhaps it is because, unwillingly, I was made aware of differences at a very young age. I had moved about 10 times by the time I was 11. I had a very unusual name..."Callico Sunshine Jones" , hair that looked very similar in color and shine to a brand new copper penny, and lots of freckles, was usually one of the taller people in my class and...oh yeah- did I mention I had glasses? I guess you could say I stood out in a crowd...and I remember not really liking that fact!
I had a best friend in High School whose mom was white and dad was black. This was more unusual when I was younger than it is now. We went to a predominently "white" school. I thought she was just the prettiest and coolest girl in the world. (She was VERY beautiful, was very athletic, smart, and compassionate- she was one of those people who will walk in and stand by someone when everyone else walks out.) I enjoyed learning how we were different- but loved the fact that our differences didn't matter- they made each of us individuals and therefore special. We were also very much alike in many ways...oh....she will always be so dear to my heart!
One of my favorite songs as a child was a song that talked about a little boy who went to school and the teacher wanted them to draw and color a picture. He painted his with many colors. He thought it was beautiful! Then the teacher told him that it was wrong. "Green grass is green, blue skys are blue." The little boy said, "There are so many colors in the rainbow, so many colors in the morning sun, so many colors in the flowers, and I see every one!" He ended up learning from her to paint in the way she wanted-- forgetting about all the colors and beauty he once saw! That song  WOULD MAKE ME CRY as a little girl.
I was watching a kid at The Ohio State University walk down the road listening to his walkman (I am dating myself!) as I sat in my car at a light on the way to class. He was JAMMING! I was staring at him thinking, "How cool is it that he is singing at the top of his lungs, dancing spastically all over the place, and doesn't care about the line up of cars with people in them at this light he is right beside!" Then, he got really close to my car and flipped me off...and I realized I was staring and he had no idea that as I stared I had thoughts of how impressed and almost proud I was of him....
Living in Colorado now, I ADORE Boulder!! Why? I love the artsy feeling that surrounds me when I am there. I also LOVE the people I see there. Individuals everywhere! It is sooooo cool to me!! The beauty of God's creation everywhere- including people who get that they are individuals and do not have to conform. It is like a breath of fresh air to me!!
I have learned of two little girls in my life over the past year who have a mom of one race, and a dad of another. The little girls have people that point them out as different. They may even get labled in some ways. It saddens them and their parents because they grew up to a certain point not realizing they were at all different from anyone else around them. Suddenly, that is changing. I remember what it felt like to have those differences pointed out to me..."freckle face", "four eyes", "skinny minny", "toothpick", "carrot top"...have kids sing songs making fun of my name...It made me feel like the odd ball out...a strange creature...weird! I didn't like it. I wanted to be just like everyone else.
What happened to the song I used to love?? The beauty and freedom of seeing, accepting, and loving the beauty of difference and color and uniqueness?? I was trying to conform. Blech!
I am fortunate, as an adult, I have been able to recapture that awe for life and love of unique and I feel that I have passed that on to my children. It is the very thing, at times, that makes people different, that also makes them unique and beautiful!
How boring would the world be if everyone was the same. Looked the same, acted the same, sounded the same....How boring would it be if truly all grass looked green and the entire sky was always the same shade of blue?