Tammie Rogers
Inspired by Dogs & Nature
The Order of Things
- Animal
- Mammal
- Human
- Gender
- Race
- Country/Region of Origin (mixed breed, Northern and Eastern European)
- Cultures of Influence (Mid-western America / Scandinavian & Northern European – mostly regarding foods that were prevalent in my childhood home i.e. I like herring)
- Nationality (United States Citizen)
- Family (paternal – Johnson / maternal – Martin)
- Social Unit (child of mother, child of father, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, wife)
- Self (Tammie)
That is the order from less to more specific as I identify myself.
Most commonly, my perspective about myself typically only goes back to Nationality. All of the other qualifiers are of less or no significance, except of course, when I see a doctor. I hope she recognizes me as human, and takes into consideration my gender and perhaps for some diagnostics, my race.
I believe that the big divide in our country stems from self-perspective differences.
For example, when I encounter someone whose Race trumps Nationality, I may struggle finding common ground. It’s prudent to know where one’s neighbors’ priorities lie. If my neighbors see themselves as their race before their country, perhaps they might assume that I feel the same about my race. And yet, that isn’t accurate. Such a situation will likely lead to miscommunication, even mistrust.
Until we recognize others as the individual (self) before all else, we will continue to struggle as a Nation.
Until we see ourselves as responsible citizens of our Nation, we cannot achieve all of those privileges our forefathers painstakingly designed into our Constitution, but we can lose our rights.
How do you perceive yourself? How do you perceive me?
Tammie Rogers 