There is one area of life where I find myself completely out of step, with the social environment where I am trying to survive. It is how I "see" people.

For me there is a third gender, one that everyone shares and to which everyone belongs. I don't have a name for it, and it was only this morning that I was consciously thinking that my awareness of people is almost entirely without gender.

For me, there is something at the core of being human that has nothing to do with gender. Gender is a window dressing, a cultural imposition that can obscure and distort how the soul interacts with and perceives the social world. People, as I perceive them, are souls. Gender, as I experience it socially, is a superficial construct that interferes with communication and integrity.

Don't misunderstand me, I am fascinated by differences between males and females, young and old, wise and foolish and any other polarity of difference our dichotomous culture has defined. "We" have been divided and are conquered. The structures of social life are on display all around me, to be visited and observed, much as I would tour an ancient city of the Inca culture.

Superficially imposed differences do not define how I perceive others. When I perceive a person I prefer not to know how much money they earn, what they do for a living, how much education they have attained, how good looking they are, how well dressed they are, what political views they embrace, how much status they have acquired.

I am really only interested in who they are as a person, the quality of their integrity, their soul, their mind.

I enjoy meeting people and wish for a world where what I consider to be truly valuable human qualities are prized, and held in high esteem.

I can dream, can't I?



Attila and I have worked, between us, every single day but one, since the middle of June. We are both exhausted. I am taking a "break" this weekend due to my dental surgery this week. I'll miss the income, but health comes first and this surgery is not optional, nor is it covered by a health plan of any kind. We have worked long and hard to get together enough cash to pay for the surgery.

It is our dream to attain employment that allows us to have mutual day's off work. We miss one another terribly!