Is Unity a Moron?

This morning, I was thinking about how unity is a moron - an oxymoron.

Unity feels like an ambiguous term, in that it’s an immeasurable word with a moving target. Your definition of what unity looks like is probably going to be different than what my definition of unity looks like, based on whatever situation we happen to be in. There’s no clear definition to it, other “Let’s all just get along,” which isn’t really a definition that solves many problems at all.

For this reason, it feels like unity is ambiguous, and that saying that unity is ambiguous is an oxymoron, or a figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear in conjunction.

Unity - joined together as one
Ambiguity - the quality of being open to more than one interpretation

Maybe that’s why striving for unity is so hard - everyone’s version of it looks different, so there’s no set benchmark, and just as there’s no set benchmark, there’s never any easy answers. The chase for unity is foggy and never quite in focus until it’s right in your face.

-Cliff

Cliff’s Note: “Let’s all just get along” doesn’t cut it anymore.

The Struggle is Real

Have you ever watched someone struggle? It's a real thing. You can watch it, and when you watch it you can feel it. Real struggle is a real display; Yes, it can be masked, but at some point, the struggle shows itself and becomes visible to the eye.

Struggle displays itself in many forms and fashions. It shows on the physical side of a person through facial expressions and tiredness, and it also shows itself on the emotional side of a person in attitude and being. Essentially, if the struggle is real enough, it takes over a person, in a sense in some form or fashion, and it hurts to watch. 

I'm writing about the not-so-happy topic of struggle because today I watched my friend struggle-more physically than emotionally, but what I noticed was eventually, the physical struggle lead to an emotional struggle, just as I know emotional struggle can lead to physical struggle. Today, my friend took a bad fall snowboarding and fractured a bone. In his case, the physically struggle was real- watching him try to come down off the mountain, climb in the car and climb up the steps to the doctors office was painful for me to endure, so I can't imagine how he felt. It was interesting too to see how the physical struggle began to manifest itself in the visible, emotional struggle of frustration and confusion, as well. 

Struggle can be as visible and simple as a fractured bone (not that a fractured bone is simple), and it can be as invisible and complex as suicidal thoughts. Whatever the case and whatever the degree, struggle is real, and to watch struggle is hard; however, what is harder than watching struggle is watching someone struggle alone, so don't. When you see struggle, help, and when struggling goes on display and the person is struggling alone, be a friend. Struggle is real, and we all go through it, but we don't have to go at it alone.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: The struggle is real.