A Letter From Me or How To Become A Lawn Nazi - Short Two Part Essay

A Letter From Me

I just received a letter, posted to Eric and signed by Me. It told an interesting story of something Me had recently experienced. It said Me had been to a Me Convention where it had met many, many others with the same name.  The convention was convened to discuss the implication of the influx of You that have influenced western culture. Some of You even showed up. Many things were discussed. Among them was the proposition of closing the borders so You could not unduly influence Me. This received a grand round of applause. Another Me had the idea of shunning You so You would understand that You are not the same as Me. Of course this was suggested by a Me that had some issues with himself, as is usually the case with ideas of that nature. Special taxes against You, making special geographical boundaries or reservations for You and even, in some cases, imprisoning You for being You were all discussed.

The letter said the convention was going well until a tiny Me stood up in the back. I am uncertain if this Me was very young or very old. If Me was young, Me was unbelievably wise for his age. If Me was old, Me had a youthful sparkle that betrayed an unshakable joy. But it wasn’t this that caught my attention. It was what Me said. Me said, in a voice just above a whisper:

“There are no You.” 

Then Me sat down.

Me all looked around, dumbfounded. What was Me talking about? Of COURSE there are You. To prove it, Me went to gather some of You that had shown up.

But they were gone. Rather, they had transformed into Me. Just by holding that thought in Me mind, that there are no You, Me realized that Me and You are more than related. Me and You are One.

Everything changed on that day for Me, the letter said. If You can transform into Me, it must mean that Me can morph into You. If that’s the case… well, why would I ever want to hurt or persecute You? Why would I be anything but kind and compassionate to either You or Me? In the end, both titles are meaningless.

The only title that means anything... is One.

The letter was signed "Meone". 

Part 2

I sat with the letter in my trembling hands. Looking outside, I saw my neighbor mowing her lawn. I thought of her, the woman we disparagingly called “the Lawn Nazi”. I thought of her aching limbs at the end of a day of working her immaculate yard. I thought of her enjoying a cup of tea, alone as always in the flickering light of a television. I wondered about her hurts, her concerns, her insecurities, her strength to be what she is – whatever that is – in this life. And I knew her. I had felt those same concerns. I had endured aching limbs. I had felt alone. I had immersed myself in distraction to avoid hard questions that seemed more trouble than they were worth, or thought I knew enough already. If I were to ask, I would likely have found that she and I had both had our hearts broken, our sicknesses, our disappointments, our moments of transcendental joy. And as I considered these things, as much with my heart as my mind, instead of living across the street from the Lawn Nazi, I was suddenly walking next to her, figuratively speaking. We had more in common than I would ever know, but I sensed deeply that it was an immense amount. In that moment I not only knew her, I comprehended her.

I was inside her skin.

I was she. 

-- Aspen Eric Marley

2015