“Fear of the unexplainable has not only impoverished our inner lives, but also diminished relations between people.” -Rilke
We like categories. We like labels. We like things defined.
A common statement among plenty of people (born after the 1960s?) is to claim: “I don’t like labels”. The closer thing is to say instead that, “I don’t like being confined to a box I can’t alter when I want to.”
We all instinctively use and adore labels…(If we didn’t, bringing it up wouldn’t cross our minds.)
“Not liking labels” is of course a label. It’s a classification.
It’s a way to distinguish an individual. It’s a category we hope people understand. We like the differentiation, but that same differentiation can be it’s own prison, and soon. It is not only a prison, but a blockade from human interactions and healthy bonds.
But, this is because Without categories, we have fear. Our world is much harder to navigate and make sense of without them. Without labels we venture headlong into the “unexplainable” again and again. This production of fear has a halting power.
I don’t know the remedy for it. There may be none. It may help, though, to just admit that we are often afraid. The funny thing is the being afraid draws us closer to each other…when it is not busy destroying us.
