An independent cry for attention…

Happy 4th of July… kinda. If you’re an American, this is the day that you’re supposed to celebrate our nation becoming what it is today. Instead, I’m writing a blog post. Day 4’s prompt: Tell us what independence means to you. Well, that’s not a loaded question if there ever was one.

So, as I like to do in these instances, I’ll start off with the dictionary definition and go from there. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, independence is: the quality or state of being independent. Cleared that right up. Let’s look up independent: not dependent. Wow, guys… we are wording today! Breaking out the shovel and digging further, we get to dependent: relying on another for support -or- subject to another’s jurisdiction. There are other definitions, but I think these’ll be good for the original question.

As we learn in U.S. History (at least, we’re supposed to), England first began colonizing the Americas in 1607. We gained our independence in 1775. *brain smokes from math* That’s 168 years. Today, we’re celebrating 242 years of independence. That is one single generation longer as a country, than before. Sitting here thinking that we’ve been the United States of America only 74 years longer than we were colonies under England… is odd.

So, what does independence mean to me?

It means striking off on your own… making mistakes and learning from them. It means doing the things that you took for granted earlier, and finding out that some things really are easier said than done. It’s getting yourself in too deep and looking around to realize that this is all your fault… and you’re supposed to figure it out by yourself. It means having cold pizza for breakfast… or all the muffins… or a can of Monster and half a bag of Skittles. It means figuring out that doing the right thing isn’t always the easiest thing.

Seems to me that all of these things have been happening as a country, too… except for the very first thing I mentioned. We don’t seem to be learning from our mistakes. Rampant mistakes like racism and sexism. Things like treating others with respect and understanding that all of us come from different places and backgrounds and religions and add any amount of other things here… but this country is still a melting pot of all of that. We may have our differences, but we should get along as people who all live and breathe in this country and are Americans first and foremost.

But we don’t. There’s bickering and fighting from the top of our country (the government), all the way down to our schools. We haven’t learned how to take care of ourselves… only the richest of us. We can’t even get health care right. We are one of the richest countries in the world that spends more on our military than the next 25 countries combined… and 99% of them are our allies… yet we have people dying on the streets from lack of food and shelter. We have a ridiculous amount of people that are being crushed under debt, not only from horrific business and credit practices, but also because there isn’t a single state where someone can work full time for minimum wage, and still be able to afford a one bedroom apartment.

But we’re independent. We’re on our own. We decided to do this, so we must continue… but we need to do it ‘together’… AS a country… as a UNITED states of America. We must remember that our country was formed on the backs of those that came by choice… and against their will… for better or worse. We need to look back and learn from those hard and difficult lessons we made as a country, and figure out how to move on and be the country we deserve to be.

So, yes… let’s celebrate our independence… but also remember to temper that celebration with an effort to improve our lives and the lives of every American that is celebrating.

Happy 4th. Happy Independence Day.