photo by steed media service

It is human nature to erect emotional barriers. We want to feel safe. We want to feel protected. Many of us believe that building doors around ourselves and encasing our hearts in fireproof safes, shields us from harm. To gain entry to those fiercely guarded inner sanctums, one must have a key, the secret password or the wherewithal to break down the door.

Life is oftentimes tragic — there is no getting around that. And the black community’s experience in this country has been (and for many of us, continues to be), heartbreakingly tragic. So we have numbed ourselves with alcohol, drugs, sex addiction and self-destructive behaviors. Our deepest secrets have festered into anger, violence and self-loathing.

Our families are crumbling because we are standing on emotional quicksand. Our children are running wild because we have abdicated parental responsibility. We are depressed, disillusioned, deflated, disinterested and destined for the dung heap ... unless. Unless and until we begin to make the human connections necessary to sustaining life we will continue to curse the darkness, but not a single thing will change. If we don’t allow the doors and safes to be opened, we will continue to be hopeless.

A locked door doesn’t just keep other out; it also keeps us in. People who lead happy, successful lives don’t build dams. They don’t erect barriers. Well-adjusted folks build bridges. They encourage others to stretch their wings. Bridge builders freely exchange knowledge. They construct reservoirs of love from which everyone can draw strength. Don’t be a doorkeeper; be a door opener. Don’t build a monument to pathology. Open the doors of your safe haven to the world.

Peace.

Munson Steed
Publisher
pubpage@rollingout.com

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