Traditions

"Our traditions are disappearing, respect for our values is fading." ~ The druid of Bleobheris

It excites me to no end to see the little pronouns at the end of the e-mail I receive from the Natural History Museum. She/her/hers. Yes girl, I thought to myself, claim your identity.

Truth to be told, as an ESL speaker I couldn't care less about what your pronouns are. This is purely from a grammatical POV. The Indonesian language doesn't have gender pronouns. Keep in mind that I have spent 9+ years in the US and learned English since I was 8 or younger. I am proud to say that my poor partner has resorted to trying to guess what gender I am talking about using context only because I will use the wrong pronouns. Ok, probably not proud. I am trying really hard here but it just doesn't stick.

Then why should I be so happy looking at the gender pronouns on the e-mail? It doesn't affect me, right?

But it does. It does affect me. The great thing about the US, the one thing that differentiates the US from other countries, is the freedom of choice. It is literally what builds the US. A bunch of people saying " 'Aight imma head out" to preserve what they think is sacred to them, and boom viva le capitalism. Being able to place those pronouns when many parts of the US are simply against it is a symbolic freedom of choice. Pretty much what I am here for.

It's scary to some. As the druid says, for some our traditions are disappearing and respect for our values is fading. But what really is the tradition? What really is the value? 

Human is a wonderful, amazing creations. We solve problems in a scary record time. We evolve as quickly as the seasons. We adapt, we conquer. Unlike sharks and crocodiles and alligators and other ancient relics, we stay alive for so long not because we have the optimum design from nature. We stay alive for so long because we know how to deal with challenges along the way.

Traditions and values have one main purpose: survival. This is why we have different traditions and different values from different parts of the world. This is also why we have different traditions and values from different time periods. At some point, for example, one stay-at-home parent is needed due to the lack of access to resources and childcare. With what we have right now, both in terms of resources and challenges, SAHP is either moot or unaffordable. 

Either way, the world is changing as it always is. We've sped up the changes of the earth with our climate-related actions, but even without our existence, the world is always changing. Humans are also always changing. Traditions and values come and go to suit new challenges and thus ensuring survival. 

Maybe, maybe the current challenge to survive in this world is to accept ourselves. Thus, the need to find our identity. The knowledge of who we are, what we are, and what we are capable of would be our bows and arrows to ensure our survival, to find our footing in this ever-changing world. 

This is the new, current tradition and values. One that surely will be replaced in the future as we adapt to the challenges of the future, and so on and so forth. The future is an ever-changing Boggart that is ready to pounce and strike with our deepest, darkest fear. Traditions and values is the spell "Riddikulus" that breaks them.

Honestly, coming from us sharpening stones and flints not so long ago with really low life expectancy, this is not so bad.