labels
yesterday i heard a dj on my favorite radio station (way-fm) talk about labeling music artists or groups and how detrimental that can be. the bottom line was that an artist or group doesn't want to be labeled. as he said, they just want to be accepted for who they are - whatever that may be.
i heard this little commentary as i was driving by a skate park. i looked over and could see several dozen kids hanging out and couldn't help but think that most of them have been labeled as skaters. do they like that? maybe they do. i really don't know. if i were to guess, i would say that most of them don't care. they probably do like it.
but i kept thinking about the "skaters" and about labels in general. i guess what bothers me most is that once we label someone (or something), we don't see them any other way. i know a few "skaters." do i take the time to get to know them beyond the "skater" persona? because there is more to these kids than just trying to be proficient at skate boarding. if i'm completely honest, i don't do a good job at it, because it's so much easier and comfortable to "know" the person from the label i, or someone else, has given them. i don't have to work any harder at getting to know them.
and there lies one of the major problems with labels. another problem would be; what if the label is incorrect. we then don't take the time to get to know the person on a deeper level so we may never know that the label is incorrect.
labels are a prison of sorts. but i'm the one that feels imprisoned.
i heard this little commentary as i was driving by a skate park. i looked over and could see several dozen kids hanging out and couldn't help but think that most of them have been labeled as skaters. do they like that? maybe they do. i really don't know. if i were to guess, i would say that most of them don't care. they probably do like it.
but i kept thinking about the "skaters" and about labels in general. i guess what bothers me most is that once we label someone (or something), we don't see them any other way. i know a few "skaters." do i take the time to get to know them beyond the "skater" persona? because there is more to these kids than just trying to be proficient at skate boarding. if i'm completely honest, i don't do a good job at it, because it's so much easier and comfortable to "know" the person from the label i, or someone else, has given them. i don't have to work any harder at getting to know them.
and there lies one of the major problems with labels. another problem would be; what if the label is incorrect. we then don't take the time to get to know the person on a deeper level so we may never know that the label is incorrect.
labels are a prison of sorts. but i'm the one that feels imprisoned.
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