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Home | Your community | Blogs | Sandi Wassmer | Does it grow corn?

Posted in Sandi's blog on 24 August 2010 | 2 Comments

I have never been a big fan of rules and think I will probably remain a bit of a rebel for the rest of my life, because even now, when faced with having a rule imposed on me, not only do I want to break it, I want to break it twice. And in the same vein, I am also not much of a conformist or big on social convention, and these things do get me into trouble now and again.

Although I may not like to admit it, I am getting older and as today is my birthday, it somehow seems befitting to mark this day by making some firm decisions on what really matters and it is certainly none of the above.

But as I do have to live in this world, no matter how much I fight against it, I am respectful and responsible and do everything with an open heart and a willingness to help others. This should keep me in good stead, but somehow the combination of my intentions and my lack of doing what is deemed socially appropriate makes people angry with me and consequently makes me feel disheartened and misunderstood and that is not a happy state of affairs.

And so I started to ponder, as I do when faced with such challenges, and realised how we are socialised plays an important role in our lives as it informs every aspect of our relationships with others. I started to think about all of the people in my life and realised that what people like about me and what people dislike about me are actually just two sides of the same coin.

I am completely driven by a passion that burns inside of me and that is the centre of my being. I do love my family and friends and enjoy meeting new and interesting people, but that passion is my constant and I cannot let it go. And so, if my theory is correct, this will probably mean that I am just going to continue to agitate people and to cause them discomfort when what I am doing infringes on their rules.

And I am ok with this and can directly attribute this ok-ness to one Peter E Dawson, PhD (York University, Department of Sociology), who shared some of the conflicts that he has faced in having to make decisions between what drives him to make the world a better place and what is deemed socially acceptable.

He told me of David Manangui, an Aboriginal Elder he met on a Reserve and who has been an inspiration to Peter, and now through Peter, an inspiration to me. David had lived there all of his life, without any modern amenities and Peter described him as being both happy and wise, but also humble and so very calm. David would sit and listen to anyone talk about their problems for seconds, minutes, hours, however long they needed. It mattered not; for his answer was always the same: "Does it grow corn?"

About Sandi

Businesswoman Sandi Wassmer registered blind in 2008. In her blog, she shares with us the 'shenanigans of visual impairment'.

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