Gravity vs. Gravitas

A couple of months I went to see the film "Gravity" and experienced what it meant to be in a completely different world. Unlike my going to California for the first time and being dazzled (yes, true) by palm trees, I still had something to "hang my hat on" per se. I was still in the United States so even as different it felt to be in southern California, I still knew where to find a bathroom or ask for directions.  And as shocked as I was by the unfamiliar smells and sounds when I went to teach English in China, I was able to ground myself in the comfort of KFC or Pizza Hut in the midst of bustling Beijing.

What "Gravity" did for me was to remind me that I may or in fact don't know how others live. Their world can be and is often so different than mine. And as much as we (and I) like to say we have things in common, sometimes that's often a way to downplay difference so we don't have to pay attention to it, care about it or recognize its impact on us and on others.

Maybe we need to go from "gravity" to gravitas when it comes to grasping the diversity that is in us and surrounds us.

grav·i·tas
ˈgraviˌtäs/
noun: gravitas
1. dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner.

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