I believe that living in a tidy box is an overly limiting experience. This tidy box I am referring to is the attempt to put everything around us in an over simplified, clean cut, mono-viewed casing that people try to put their world into. A major reason I believe that this way of living in a box limits experiences is that the world and the issues that envelop it are not and never will be simple or clean cut.

The ideology of making situations as simple as possible has never made sense to me, and most likely never will. This is based on the premise that in real world circumstances right and wrong can be subjective, and putting situations into black and white labels is left up to personal interpretation. Frequently the need for tidiness occurs when spiritual or religious discussions take place. The tendency for having deep rooted religious and spiritual beliefs is prevalent and when other contradicting beliefs are discussed it can come off as a personal attack.

This happened a couple of months ago when the people I was with tried to put issues in their box. I was out eating lunch with a few friends and the topic of what we believe in came up. And as soon as I discussed my belief that a god does not exist, I could see them internally shut down to what I was saying. It was almost as if my ideas didn’t matter because they were different. Unfortunately, this was not the first time that it had occurred. I have found from these discussions that people who try and view the world in an overly restricted way are not open to new ideas and ways of thinking if those ideas do not adhere to what they already believe themselves. Going about life with inflexible beliefs does not allow for a full experience of other cultures, religions and societies. I do believe that being steadfast in your beliefs is worthwhile, as long as keeping an open mind is an option. Without this discerning what’s going on around us is truly difficult. That is why I believe that living in a tidy box narrows experiences but being open minded broadens them.