Who would’ve thought this iPhone thing would open up a whole new level of self-discovery for me? It has, and I thought this was worth sharing with you…
I was talking with my buddy Jack about my grudging adoption of the ubiquitous iPhone. Jack has long owned and used Apple products—in fact his wife once worked for Apple—and is therefore thoroughly convinced of their virtues.
When I finally admitted that, yes, it is a superior device to my old Blackberry, he commented that he was going to start calling me Pepe le Pew. Puzzled, I asked him why. He replied that there are some people who are, and I’m paraphrasing here, “so mortally afraid of being one of the sheep, that they refuse to adopt the new, and clearly superior technology.” Pepe le Pew saw himself as a great Lothario, and “absolutely refused to admit he was a skunk.”
That hit me right between the eyes. Yep. That’s been precisely my attitude about Apple products: I didn’t want to be one of the vast hoards of fanboys, even if it meant settling for less. And that got me to thinkin’. What else do I refuse to admit about myself for fear of really living out what I am deep down?
Poor Pepe was forever chasing some poor cat who had just had an unfortunate accident with white paint. The whole schtick is Pepe recognizing something of himself in the black cat with the white stripe, but ignoring the obvious. Surely, he must have known that, “Dude, it’s a cat!” Undeterred, he chases the terrorized creature, trying to force his amorous attentions on her. Hilarity ensues.
Too bad life isn’t a cartoon. You can fall off a cliff, or have an anvil drop on your head without the least bit of trauma. You can chase after that elusive kitten with the white stripe again and again, joy and laughter all around.
But life’s not a cartoon. Just how many things have I chased after because I thought they would make me happy? Not the me that I am, but the me I want to project to the world. How exhausting it all is! How futile and dejecting. Mercifully, there is One who knows me better than I know myself. One who can show me my true self, and what I’m meant to become. One who will not shrink from the smell.
One who knows I’m just a skunk and loves me anyway.
