Another passage has come and gone and I still sit here staring at my blinking cursor, wondering if it, and I, will ever come to a compromise. And soon I realize that any type of compromise with it is futile and I look away.

I am struck today by a poem by Robert Frost entitled 'Revelation'. I know not why this poem comes to mind on this day of all days. Again I make no presumptions about you, the reader, having any knowledge of Robert Frost himself although I am sure more than one of my fair readers will have a more than adequate memory of a poem about dirt roads and taking one vice against the other. And I am also sure there are many of you whose knowledge of Frosts' works far surpass my own. Again, of this I make no presumptions.

But I have gotten off track. Back to the poem.
Frosts' Revelation speaks of how we, as a society, justify our existence in the face of what we perceive to be what other people would deem as 'cool' or socially acceptable. Frost says
'We make ourselves a place apart

Behind light words that tease and flout,

But oh, the agitated heart

Till someone find us really out.'

As a whole, this is true of all of us at one time or another. In this stanza he speaks of how we fabricate our existence in our own head to meet the needs of the people around us. Why do we do this? Perhaps it is to fill the need that each one of has to not be alone. Perhaps it is to make others like who we are, though what we present to them is to the contrary. We make up these portions of our life to such an extent that we sometimes begin to believe them ourselves. And there in lies the greatest tragedy of doing such a thing. We hide behind these words that 'tease and flout' and find a comfort knowing that the true person that is hidden behind these words is safely tucked away behind a façade of our choosing. Frost moves on to describe delicately how, once our façade is torn away by those that find us out, we are soon left 'naked' and 'ashamed'. How, once the truth is known that we are who aren't, or at least partially aren't in some cases, we scramble to fix what was just broken.

These fabrications might not be something totally made up either. Sometimes they are a futile attempt to grasp onto what we once had held dear. Personalities, ideals, opinions that we had once had, these are things that change through time. There is nothing that we can do for this, it just is. That is a fact we have to accept, though some people find it hard to deal with. Why? To some, change is a thing to be seen as a detriment to their existence, something that brings them down and upsets the delicate balance that they have set up for themselves in their own sphere of influence. In today's changing markets and economies, technologies and manufacturing, change is a thing that sweeps through everyone and everything. Where borders are blurred now and cultures integrate freely and not so freely, these changes can upset those of the more devote beliefs and opinions. The old fashioned if you will. Perhaps this is the crux of my writing... change. Once these changes are embraced and feelings become as blurred as the boundaries that hold them, people have a need to justify themselves to those whom they think will judge them harshly because of it. With today's social and racial biases becoming increasingly 'old-fashioned', we, more often than not, find ourselves in such a situation that might offend our sensibilities. We find ourselves perpetuating the predominant thought so as to not offend those around who might very well be thinking the same thing. Marriage is no longer a prerequisite for sex, divorcees are more and more commonplace, and inter-racial relationships are on the rise. Peoples interactions with one another are more universal than it has ever been and the trend is on the rise.

Frost goes on to say:
'Tis pity if the case require

(Or so we say) that in the end

We speak the literal to inspire

The understanding of a friend.'

Here he speaks of the way in which we need to make the truth be known, though sometimes that may be a fabrication as well, so to those that matter the most acceptance can be gained. Again we can go back to my previous example. Once the individuals actual feelings on a particular subject, or the truth of their very existence is made apparent, we play this verbal song and dance with our peers to make them understand why it was that we created such a façade. In reality, it is these very friends to whom we need not justify ourselves. This understanding is inherent in the relationships between true friends. We often do a disservice to those friends by

1. Fabricating this script of the life we lead and
2. justifying it to them as if they wouldn't understand.

In the final stanza of this poem, Frost writes:
'But so with all, from babes that play

At hide and seek to God afar,

So all who hide too well away

Must speak and tell us where they are.'

Here, the final justification will occur. You see, I believe that Frost is writing this because he feels that we, as a society, don't truly live the way we are meant to. We hide behind what we feel is socially acceptable, at least within our own peer group; that more often than not we don't live in a way which is right for ourselves. We make decisions that are contrary to our very lifestyle, but we make them because someone or something else has an influence on us... and this is perfectly natural and human. But, ultimately, we will be called on it. Whether it is by the almighty himself, or someone more earthly, it will be called.

When faced with these dilemmas isn't it better to be honest and live what has been given to you? Isn't it a far better existence to do it the way that feels right? Do we weaken ourselves by submitting to social norms that exist contrary to our very logic? It is beyond subjects of creed and color, religion and race, that the answers to these subjects lie. Will we ever know them... well if we should ever know them, then our existence will be far sweeter because of it.

So, my fellow researchers, I wish you Godspeed and I look forward to reading about your further adventures.

Aaron O'Keefe

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