And

“It’s not binary! You can be gifted and decent at the same time!”
(Woz, talking with Steve)
Steve Jobs…the Movie

Perhaps the most significant (and insidiously unnoticed) flaw in our over-stressed, hyper-analytical existence is the pernicious tendency to reduce everything to a binary conflict.

Either in a perpetual Death Match with Or.

Republicans vs. Democrats
Men vs. Women
Haves vs. Have Nots
Nerds Vs. Jocks
First World vs. Third World
Red States vs. Blue States
Words & Numbers vs. Pictures & Feelings
Tall vs. Small
Hard vs. Soft
Analytical vs. Experiential
Cops vs. Robbers
Russia vs. United States
North vs. South
New York vs. Los Angeles
Football vs. Baseball
Communists vs. Capitalists
Realists vs. Idealists
Winter vs. Summer
East vs. West
Artists vs. Writers
Love vs. Hate

Look again.

That ancient icon, the TaiJiTu, is not a monument to endless opposition, but to perpetual motion. Without doing a thesis on the subject, just notice that there’s a little hard in the soft, a little vanilla in the chocolate. They come, these opposites, in perfectly matched sets, dancing together in an endless Pas de Deux.

We do better in life, when we embrace our demons, our relatives, our spouses, our counterparts, our partners, our opposites; and realize that we all emerge from the same infinite source. Perhaps our mirror selves have something to teach us, if we can only muster the courage required to come together.

This holiday season, as the world heaves a sigh, and hunkers down through the longest night: pause to contemplate a new and different year to come. Consider; It’s not Either/Or my friends, but And!

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