“I personally believe that the iPod is a frankly corrosive device because it encourages you to surround yourself with your favorites. The whole idea of a playlist is to surround yourself with your favorite things, and the interesting thing is that when you do that, they cease to be your favorites.” –Hugh Laurie
Maybe it’s because I have a serious addiction to Law & Order, or because I grew up watching Cops on a regular basis, but when I think about “being surrounded,” I don’t feel good. Surround, for me, means that I am not in control–rather, it means that I’ve wandered into a situation that I have to defend myself from or, worse, that I have to surrender to.
But as I was talking to people about “surround” this weekend (yes, I actually talk about these words with people, many of whom I do not know well…or at all. Don’t judge!), I was surprised at how many people understood “surround” as a task to accomplish rather than as a situation to escape from. When life got them down, or they felt unsupported, or when they were walking into a new situation, they saw it as a priority to surround themselves with people and situations who were positive, uplifting, and inspiring. People who would not criticize them. Situations that would not threaten their comfort. Circumstances that would reinforce the “Facebook” version of themselves–you know, that idealized version of ourselves that we project to the world.
And I liked this version of “surround” a lot better than mine.
I liked it better because, when surrounding ourselves is a task, we have a lot more control. People who surround themselves are never victims of circumstances. Quite the opposite! These theoretical people are so in control of their lives that they can actually manipulate their environment and eradicate it from everything that is…unpleasant. Or nearly anything, anyway. And when those things can not be eradicated then, theoretically, they can dismiss themselves from engaging in anything that is uncomfortable, because they don’t have to be surrounded by that kind of stuff. They are surrounded only by what they acknowledge, which means that our surroundings are subject only to our perception.
But that’s not true.
We are surrounded by all sorts of things, whether we acknowledge them or not and whether we perceive them or not. We can assert to ourselves and to our friends that that awful boss/coworker/friend/sibling who has been getting us down doesn’t matter because “we don’t pay attention to people like that” since we are dedicated to “surrounding ourselves with positive influences,” but the truth is that that boss/coworker/friend/sibling is still there. They didn’t disappear just because we ignore them. They are still part of our surroundings, effecting our surroundings, whether we acknowledge them or not.
And I think that’s a good thing.
Because being surrounded by what we know and approve of only reinforces what we are. And even though I like who I am (for the most part,) I don’t want to be the same person when I am 60 that I am now at 30, just like I am glad I am different now then I was at 15 (praise the Lord!). Truthfully, shutting out the unfamiliar, the unpleasant, and the un-likable things in life will also include shutting out the challenges that will cause me to change, grow, and–ultimately–be a better person.
And the world can use better people. More like-able people. People who see the world for what it is rather than for what they want it to be and yet still choose to engage with it. Because things don’t change unless they are engaged and challenged. I’d like to believe that, if enough of us commit to seeing what surrounds us in all it’s good, bad, and ugly, then perhaps we can in turn surround the world.
“Clouds of darkness surround us, yet Heaven is just, and the day of triumph will surely come, when justice and truth will be vindicated.” –Mary Todd Lincoln