Kicking Down the Vertical Tower of Value

It’s pretty rare that I cut out an article from People magazine… but I cut out an essay by Caterina Scorsone from the November 9th issue because it was—in a word—amazing. She didn’t say anything new, she just said it well. Very very well.

She writes about her daughter, Pippa, and what she learned raising a child with Down syndrome. It’s a way of viewing the world that clears away the clutter, and I think everyone needs to hear her thoughts, take them to heart, and apply them liberally across all facets of life.

She writes,

Most of us have grown up believing that we’re supposed to aspire to some sort of standard of “perfection,” some idea of humanity that is located at the top of a vertical tower of value. How smart are you? How fast? How thin? What’s your gender? Your ethnicity? What have you bought and achieved? Do you qualify for love? But when Pippa was born, it suddenly became crystal clear that the emperor wasn’t wearing clothes. There is no standard, objective, perfect human being. The metrics of perfection are arbitrary and imposed in the service of those who fit them. My daughter is perfect. Exactly the way she is.

I love that, and think we need to spend more time kicking down that vertical tower of value rather than reinforcing it by supporting it with attention or worth.