"Fences make good neighbors," my mother would say. I could never figure that out. And then she'd lean on the fence and talk with the neighbor. It made no sense to me to have one to begin with.
And then came the day when there was an argument and the six-foot stockade fence went up in between and the line of demarcation had been drawn. I think if it had been a physical possibility, a stone structure would have stood in place of it to further solidify the separation.
As the years have passed I have come to the conclusion that walls and fences only only signify the inner boundaries which have been violated. They bring a sense of safety and security to those who erect them. And yet with a fence as simple as barbed wire nearly invisible to the eye, most times you will find someone snip, snip, snipping away at it with wire cutters. Why are some people that determined to not listen? What motivates a person to violate a boundary that has been established?
I suppose we would have to consult the Freudians and Jungians amongst us to discover the multitude of reasons for that. But would that give any credence to the behaviour of those unwilling to listen? After all, people create walls for a reason. I have always thought it was either to keep other people out or sometimes to provide a safe haven in which one could breathe freely. I am sure both of these reasons have been adopted by many.
There is nothing like a wall that says "Keep Out!" When the walls are recognized and respected, it can certainly allow the individual to live in an unfettered fashion.
Yet sometimes the walls we set up can turn on us and become prisons of our own making. They can work too well inspired by countless efforts at trying to communicate boundaries only to be insolently ignored.
Recently I read something which has changed my whole perspective on walls, their beginnings, their ends and their usage. It will forever change the landscape of both my outer life and my inner life. Sometimes concepts can be so valuable in their simplicity.
It read, "I didn't create the walls to keep anyone out. I created them to see who would care enough to scale them."
I had to look at my own walls. I had to discover the reasons for having them. Was I hiding from the world? Was it such a hurtful place that I couldn't even allow the goodness through? Many hard questions needed answers. Many walls came tumbling down.
I look back now over the landscape of my life. I see where the walls were and the reasons they were there. Some were necessary. Many weren't. My shortsightedness failed me many times. If I was hiding, I know now that I was so very well hidden. The only problem with that is when I looked out, all I could see was the walls too. It made for a lonely existence for a long time.
Now as I venture outward, I see rolling fields and grasses, flowers and streams, and off in the distance are the mountains. What a lovely sight!
I am only left wondering one thing. How did we get from fences....
To this????
