Cultural Chlorophyll

If someone asked, “What color are leaves?” I’m sure I would respond, “Green”, while looking at the person as if they were a bit crazy unless they asked about this time of year.

But, I recently saw a post that made me realize it was an unwarranted assumption. The real colors of leaves are the beautiful yellows, golds, reds and oranges we see in the fall. The green we see is when the leaves are overwhelmed with the pigment of chlorophyll.

Life is like that. We are, from birth, overwhelmed with culture. We are saturated with the overwhelming presence of “the way things are supposed to be”. Our parents, teachers, friends, virtually everyone around us reflects similar points of view, of the pervasive culture.

I see it in myself, in the younger generation, and especially in my grandchildren. Listening to them I hear the echoes of culture, of assumptions, and certainties which are not necessarily fact, not even truth, only general assumptions about life.

Of course, we want our children and grandchildren to be properly acculturated, to fit into society. We don’t want them to have attitudes and postures that will make life more difficult for them. Children can be very cruel and those who are different for any reason become targets for those who try to feel better about themselves by tormenting those who are different.

Hopefully, the adults in their lives teach them to treat others the way they would like to be treated. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen. I attended a Christmas dinner party given by acquaintances. I knew they had the attitude of “culture warriors” but hoped we’d have a nice dinner without that. Unfortunately, along with dessert, a litany of criticism of everyone they knew was served. Adults and children recounted the peculiarities of everyone to the great amusement of all. I was horrified. The children were being taught it was perfectly normal to belittle others. Their prejudices were reinforced as being perfectly acceptable. It was sad.

That memory returns as we approach the holiday season. Holidays are meant to engender within us good feelings and better sensibilities. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving because, unlike other holidays, it hasn’t become overly commercialized. Christmas, for example, should never be about getting more stuff, never about tearing down others. That’s hardly the message it should convey.

We look around us and see reflections of who we are. Everybody looks the same, ordinary, all rather green, thinking alike, speaking alike. What we can’t see is what lies beneath the cultural chlorophyll, the vibrant yellows, reds, and oranges.

Franz Kafka once said, “I was ashamed of myself when I realized life was a costume party; and I attended with my real face.”

Life is a costume party. We all put on appropriate costumes, we wear our cultural chlorophyll of green and hide our real selves so we blend in. Hopefully, we eventually grow up and dare not only to be us but to allow everyone else the same privilege.