The Edge Effect

In many social environments, we look around and see a lot of the same kinds of people. It's no secret that people tend to gravitate towards others who remind them of themselves. When we are most like those around us, we don't have to work very hard to find things in common: those heuristic launch pads by which to build relationships. Many popular comedians capitalize off of this phenomenon in their "these people do this/ those people do that" routines. 

Similarity and predictability give us comfort and provide the illusion that we don't really have to get to know people beyond their superficial qualities. We often assume that if someone looks like us, then they should value, like, dislike, pursue, and avoid the same things. These presumptions feed the root of many intracultural conflicts and lead to even greater isolation, creating smaller subgroups of people we presume to be even more like us, protecting us from the influence and lifestyles of those people. The more we search for the easy way, pulling ourselves further and further into separateness, the harder it becomes to see the value in difference

We're all different. No matter how similar another may seem, they are a completely different person with a vastly disparate way of seeing the universe. Our differences are no reason to avoid each other. In fact, our differences are more a reason to pursue relationships with each other. The overlap of our differences with the differences of others can create some beautifully unique adventures. 

In permaculture theory, there's a thing called The Edge Effect. The Edge Effect is seen within an environment when contrasting ecosystems are juxtaposed in proximity and meet at an edge. When we plant and allow things to grow near other systems which, presumably, have nothing in common, escapades of wonder manifest in the overlap. Some farmers intentionally create designs that exploit The Edge Effect, using a combination of flowing water, various animals, and plants, then watching them establish sustainable and sensational homes in harmony. Others (like myself) watch this effect happen through what the late Bob Ross would call, "happy accidents." We create food for our fish from the algae that grows on the rocks at the edge of a pond. In return, the fish create nitrogen rich fertilizer that makes nearby plantlife flourish, attracting bees, butterflies, and various birds. It's a beautiful symphony of abundant life that only happens through synthesizing difference.

The overlap of differences among humans is similar to the ecology of The Edge Effect. The more we allow ourselves to come in contact with others whom we may not deem familiar, the more we learn about ourselves and humanity. That one person who has a perspective we've never considered may have the key to that one issue that we just couldn't unlock before. So why don't we lunge at every opportunity to interconnect?

Pedestrian Bridge, Wahkeena Falls, Portland, OR

We are afraid. We are afraid of the possibility that the way in which we have learned to deal with life is somehow incomplete. That maybe we aren't the people we think we are. That maybe too much difference will bring things out of us that we're not comfortable with. What are we going to do with that? How are we going to understand and fit our ideas of ourselves back into something we can predict when all these new experiences and people are bringing out all these new, bizarre sensations and ideas? 

We overcome our fear by accepting that whoever we really are is exactly who we are, trusting ourselves to be who we are, as we are. The more we expose ourselves to opportunities to challenge our ways of thinking and being, the better able we are to trust ourselves. The more we trust ourselves, the more we seek opportunities to challenge our thinking and being. This cycle of trust and challenge eventually spirals out of control and we become One with all things, which we always were and always will be anyway. So why not just go for it?

On The Edge, every species, body, molecule, and atom is still fundamentally itself. But it is the juxtaposition of difference that brings out the color, fragrance, and size. And as long as we remember that it is in our nature to work together, we won't fight these differences. We will celebrate them. And we will grow together on The Edge and beyond. 

Love,

Blue 

Hi. My name is Blue. I'm a social psychologist, singer/songwriter, actress, author, and permaculture farmer from East St. Louis, IL who moved to the Big Island of Hawaii to cultivate and share simplicity. I embrace all things magical, I believe all things wonderful, and I want my homies to be happy. Won't you be my homie? 
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