Madea makes me think

"You never had anything happen to you in your childhood? Then what kind of adult are you?" - Tyler Perry

I'm watching The Black List: Volume 2 right now and this quote struck me. Apparently Tyler Perry had a colorful childhood, to say the least. He followed by saying, 'It's made me who I am. It's made me the man I am.' (I wouldn't say this is verbatim but it's the jist of his comments.) He prefaced the first quote above by saying that he felt sorry for people that had a 'perfect childhood.'

I think and I think and I think and I look and I look and I look around me and the people who understand me best have experienced some kind of adversity in their youth (or young adulthood). And while, I wouldn't wish a 'colorful childhood' on anyone, especially a child, it appears there's something to be said for what it does for personality and character building. It's not to say that everyone that has been through adversity is more well adjusted or that people who haven't been through adversity are any worse off. I'm just saying that it's a pattern I've noticed in my life. It's hard to pinpoint what it is. Perhaps it's a slightly different model of empathy and compassion. Perhaps it's an acknowledged understanding and respect. Perhaps it's a different kind of humility. It's why gays understand gays differently than straight people understand gay people, and visa versa. Same goes for people of the same race or, in my case, of mixed race. If you haven't dealt with it, it never occurs to you that there's anything else. And it's not to say that the people who haven't dealt with 'it' can't understand. I think one of the most amazing things about some people is the ability to recognize that it's something that hasn't been part of their experience and then consciously make an effort to try to understand. I have such great respect for people who acknowledge that they don't know. Because it's a humbling thing. We like to think of ourselves as open and worldly but it's not about ignorance, which has a negative connotation, it's about acknowledging and then opening up yourself to broaden YOUR experience. Because, in the end, it benefits everyone.

Here I go separating. Making myself and these people around me 'the other.' But like I've always said, normal is boring.

Great quotes

“The most important thing in life is your family.... Sometimes it’s the family you’re born into, and sometimes it’s the one you make for yourself.” - CARRIE BRADSHAW

“Fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life, and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” - AMELIA EARHART

“It’s better not to expect approval from people, because you’ll just be disappointed. You have to be who you are.” - MADONNA

- Glamour Magazine, April 2009 (p.225)