What’s So Great About Acceptance?

A few questions to crack the hard nut of “acceptance”

Photo by author.

If I could just accept myself for who I am. If I could just accept him/her/they for who they are.

Oh, the longing to be someone better — but consider:

What do we really want from a state of acceptance?

What does not accepting give us that is so hard to let go of?

What does “acceptance” mean to you, beyond its dictionary definition; beyond what you have come to think of as “acceptance?”

We’re told that accepting others starts with self-acceptance. Before I can accept you for who and what and where you are, I have to begin here. What if this isn’t true? “Accepting myself,” whatever the hell that is, is just another hoop to jump through.

Is something more true?

Is there a word you like better than acceptance? For example, I sometimes replace the general state of “love” with “goodwill.” I can see it.

What if acceptance is like a color, and you look for it, the way some people are on the lookout for bluejays. Not a seeking, but a watching — a witnessing. When the bluejay appears, you observe. You get curious about it, you stare it down until you see something new about it.

Just as you are not judgmental about the bluejay, you don’t judge how you accept yourself, a situation, someone else.

Are you railing against this moment? Are you going with the current? Somewhere in between?

If acceptance was food, what would it be? Who would you invite over for dinner?

What if the idea/word/topic of “acceptance” didn’t even exist?

What if you didn’t have to accept a goddamn thing — then what?