Mending Wall

There is a Robert Frost poem that we read in highschool english class. "Mending Wall". I don't remember what year we read it, or what we discussed about it or the conclusions we came to about it. But I will always remember that we read it, and the proverbial line that "Good fences make good neighbors", that Frost may or may not have been telling us not to believe.

I'm not one to examine myself much. It's not something that I have ever left time in my day for me to do. I hate when people talk about "love languages" and Meyers-Briggs personality tests and junk like that because from what I can tell, if you're an adult, you should already know what makes you tick, what your personality is like, and whether you like hugs or getting gifts more. None of that is quantified, because by golly there is no human way to quantify your brain. So instead, we have to use subjective words to describe ourselves, which isn't really useful.
But one thing that I have noticed about me is that I really, really can't stand walls.

Walls are something that you jump over.
Walls are something that you knock over.
Walls are something that you can watch as they slowly fall apart over time.

We all spend our childhood within the confines of the walls that adults put around us.
Usually for our "protection" or "own benefit" but even if most kids can't see the "real" benefit of these walls, most if not all can see that they are just a wall.
Not even a real wall.
A metaphorical one.
Walls inside your head are easier to jump over than a wall made out of rocks.
So I did a lot of that when I was growing up.
And today, when people put a wall in front of me, my first reaction is to break it.
Every time.
It usually takes a great deal of effort for me to decide to let it be.
Maybe i'm just combative. I'd like to think of myself as never being content with status quo.

Yesterday morning, I watched Dean Kamen tell about 70 extraordinary highschool seniors to chase after their dreams and that if people who care about you try to hold you back, it probably means that you found something that needs to be done.

Easy words for an incredibly successful person to say to a bunch of kids who have never experienced failure. But hey. He's on to something.