Today I got thinking about the importance of the concept of "borders" in every sense of the word. What is it with people and their need to cordon off things in such a way? Why do we do it? I was born in the United States, where the map looks like a brownie pan. Stick a giant toothpick in the center of each state and you're all set. As a child, I remember travelling cross-country, and wondering if somewhere along the way I might be able to catch a glimpse of these "lines" that divide our country into the sections I saw on a map in school. Of course, these "imaginary" lines are just that; imaginary. Because they don't exist, except in the maps, and textbooks, and minds of Americans everywhere. In reality, all I saw in travelling was plains, hills, forests, mountains, and marshes that blended together in a seamless unity of land from one "state" to the next.
So, why am I focused on such a seemingly mundane concept? Because, in my opinion, it is one of the worst ideas in the history of humanity. Look at it this way; Borders force us to objectify. They force us to view something in a predetermined fashion. They force us to seperate. They are essentially a world-wide form of segregation. Would we look at oursleves as "American", Germans as "German", or Iraqis as "Iraqi" if there were no borders to define them? Or would we all just be "human"? Pretty much everyone can agree that segregation is bad, so how do we happen to overlook, everyday, segregation so bad it encompasses every nation, every people, every inch of land the world over?
Maybe this is why I hold no real notion of patriotism, or nationalism. The country, as a land to me, is just one part of the world as a whole. I did not dream up these borders, and I don't really care for them. In fact, I think they are one of humanity's most dangerous inventions, next to organized religion.
These are not the only borders, however. We hold borders within ourselves as well. Invisible lines we draw within us that create our personal "world". For the next week, I challenge anyone who's up to it to challenge their personal borders. Try something new, challenge your perceptions of something, let down your walls for a minute and try to see something in a way you never tried to see it before. You might learn something about yourself. And if not, you can always draw up your borders again. Let me know what you think.