Knights in White Satin

"Knights in White Satin," now there is an unusual visual. The knight whom we normally see as garbed in his suit of mail, armored and hard, dressed in here in flowing white, soft and unprotected. This dichotomy seems to ring true in modern life. I spent the evening talking to someone. They in their own way saw the world as full of knights and damsels in distress. And it bothered them greatly that the damsels so often resisted being saved.

We talked quite a long while. We talked about how the world has evolved. How perhaps what people, (women) are seeking is comfort, not saving. Women have learned over the years to take care of so much of life for themselves. The illusion of the knight has long since past. While they still look at men as strong and vibrant, they simply do not see them as the all necessary cave-man protector anymore. My friend, in his turn, just did not buy that. He really believed that every woman wants to be totally and completely sheltered, cared-for, protected, and indeed directed. And I found this odd, as his mother raised him on his own, and is a self-started career business woman and has always cared for her family without help.

I would be the very first to say that I know of no person who does not want to have the shelter of someone's love to embrace them. I can't think of anyone that does not desire a relationship where they know that person's strength is there to support them when they need it most. But I can say I am pretty sure I don't know of all that many people who want to be totally and completely dominated so that they can be unburdened of the process of dealing with daily life. But perhaps I just hang around in unusual circles.

I have noticed that I have a few friends lately that seem to be changing as rapidly as the leaves are changing colors. Where once they were very internal with private things and gregarious only with external humor - now I hardly recognize them. They have springboarded into putting almost every element of their lives on public display - almost as if the more people who look at what they are doing will somehow make it more real - more valuable. Or perhaps they are stretching to be validated, and this public offering of themselves is their way achieving such validation. On the other hand, some incredibly open people I have known seem to be retracting and pulling back. They have become rather introspective, having reached a time where putting everything out there has lost its luster. And they seem to be gathering nuts for winter, hoarding them away so they will not be hungry later.

My friend and I talked about this changing and pondered if it was the autumnal equinox, the impact of a cultural shift, or if perhaps we just knew people who spanned so many age groups that it was difficult to get a feel for how the world worked anymore. And I think we decided it was the latter. Consistency among our population's mores and value systems is fairly non-existent. And for those of us who dabble in social media, we seem to touch a broader spectrum and perhaps feel more of the disruption of the cultural rhythms.

I like to think that the more we share our views and see the shifting tides, the more likely it is that we will come to understand how it is that our knights can become comfortable in white satin and we can be comfortable seeing them that way too. Its a thought and perhaps a wish too .........