Unity and Diversity

It has never been more clear to me the past two days how necessary it is for us to have relationships with all kinds of people. Connecting with others is so incredibly important for our well being. We are humans. We are designed to connect with others. To breathe, to feel, to honor each other's emotions, and connect on all levels. I read an article on unity and diversity the other day. It talks about how important it is for all of us to be different in our own ways and unify at the same time. And that many of us think that unity and diversity are polar opposites. Many of feel that in order for us to unify we must be similar in thought and idea. And to diversify is to accept differences but we do not think of putting the two together.

Ethan, my oldest son with Spina Bifida, taught me about this magical concept first hand the other day. Just recently he was given new leg braces and a twister strap to keep his right leg form turning to the side when he walks. The leg braces we have been used to because Ethan has needed a new pair almost every 6 months from the time he was 2 years old. But the twister strap is a fairly new concept designed to help him integrate his muscles more efficiently for walking. The strap is made out of flexible, strong, 1 1/2" wide fabric that buckles at his waist and then continues to wind down and wrap around his right leg like a candy cane and attaches to the velcro on the top of his shoe. It has resistance in order to pull his foot into a straight forward position. Ethan tends to walk with his right foot to the side and this strap will help train the muscles in his leg to move correctly. He must wear this all the time and part of doing this is going to school with this twisty thing on. Mind you he is in elementary school and my first thought, as well as my husbands, was what are the kids at school going to say to Ethan. Are they going to make fun of him and it would break my heart to find out that kids did make fun of him. We encouraged Ethan to wear the strap underneath his clothes and not over the top of his clothes but he would not have anything to do with this. He has insisted on wearing it on the outside of his clothes purposely for everyone to see it. To my amazement he was damn proud of his twister strap and eager to wear it to school. I was the one who had a problem with his differences. We are unified in our diversity. Ethan told me he would have no problem going to school and answering all the questions that might come up from his friends. We role played what to say and he quickly came up with honest and strong minded answers. "What is that thing?" I would say. "That's my twister strap," Ethan quickly responded. "What's a twister strap?" I asked. "It helps to keep my leg straight when I walk," he confidently responded. "What do you need that for? Is your leg broken?" I asked with an attitude. "Nooooo, I need it just for now until I can do it on my own," Ethan replied assured. I was astonished at the amount of enthusiasm and sass he had about who he was and what he needed to do to make this work. He knows to a certain degree that he is different from everyone else and he is not shy about making everyone see that at the same time our differences bring us all together and help us to unify. These kids readily accept my son Ethan at his school because he's got the attitude that he is different and astoundingly awesome that he is so different. We just have to let go of our predisposed attitudes as adults and always ask our selves why not and who says we can't be unified and different at the same time. We all may be different in so many remarkable ways but it is so important to see these differences as gifts to learn by from each other to help us grow and be more open to our own healing and change that happens within us when we do. We need to have compassion for each other and help each other out and at the same time accept each other for where we are and what we are doing in this very moment. Ethan has reminded me of this once again. Thanks buddy, your awesome!