Public policy, social issues, gender politics, religion, civitas, and other taboo topics fall under the hammer of Shava's iconoclasmic force of natural philosophy.
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living an open life
Sunday, October 12, 2003
11:44 AM
A friend of mine was a little shocked that I'd have a map to my house online -- admittedly listed by another organization.
She wrote:
> Shava
> do you really want this to come up in a Google search!?!
>
> http://www.porsfis.org/altmtg/shava.html
Actually, I point to that page for people trying to find the house all the time. You can also find my name (in full) and address in the phone book, on online resumes, and various places. (although interestingly googling "shava nerad portland oregon" comes up with my info from 2001 before I moved to this house...) It would be hard to hide it! Why spend time worrying about it?
I don't think this is what Socrates meant when he said the unexamined life is not worth living -- but the life spent evading examination is a life spent in fear. Won't worry about it, as a matter of principle. If I ever do something good enough that someone wants to come hurt me, they will find me anyway. "Locks are made for honest men."
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I find that people spend a lot of time concerned about their privacy, and I consider huge swaths of this concern to be "locking the barn door when the horse is gone."
I grew up in a small town as a minister's daughter. My privacy was compromised from the day I was born. Most people in public life have their privacy compromised constantly. To many this is a huge disincentive to participating in the civic sphere.
I find that I like my privacy on a moment to moment basis -- but my reaction to being self-actualized is to be secure in my own belief that the way I am living is beyond others' judgement. I don't worry that someone will dig up something from my past or whatever for my sake, though I sometimes am concerned for my mother's or my son's sensibilities.
People should not be shy to live publically regardless of how they choose to live. I am not ashamed -- as the person I am today -- of any action I've taken in the past. Those that I had reason to be ashamed of at the time, I've made peace with them. And none of them are so bad.
When my father died, I said at his funeral, "My father is my hero. He taught me that you can be flawed, and a role model, and accomplish great good." We need to stop making heros of anti-heros, and stop declining to venerate human, imperfect, effective good people.
Part of that is for those of us who wish to do good in the world to live our lives openly, courageously, and with confidence.
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