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Culture Rules (Originally Published 4/11/2023)


I hate rules! Subservience to someone else’s ideas of what is right and wrong, of how I should live my life, is not my idea of freedom. Truth is, without rules, the world would be in chaos.

 

My Merriam-Webster Dictionary, printed in 2016, contains nine different definitions for the word “rule,” ranging from “to keep straight” to “the usual way of doing something” and the most gentlest definition, “a guide or principal for governing action.” Hmmmm.

 

Well, let’s see, speed limits are rules. Would I want someone driving 50 mph down the street I live on? Probably not. The other day I was held up for over an hour on the way home from grocery shopping because someone ran a red light (broke a traffic rule) and hit a motorcyclist turning left…God rest his soul.

 

Without rules, I suppose, how would there be a system for resolving conflicts?

 

Rules govern almost every aspect of the civilized world. Even the uncivilized world has its rules. I’m a photographer. One of the basic rules of good picture-taking is the “rule of thirds,” which dictates how the subject of the picture should be placed in the picture to “please” the artistic eye. There are also rules to follow when writing a novel to capture the reader’s interest. My personal favorite, the rule of manners, which to this old lady appears to be a dying art.

 

Rules bring about order – a necessary ingredient for a civilization that hopes to remain civilized. Clearly, there’s no escaping the grip that rules have on every aspect of life, from how the table is set to traffic regulations and the games we play. Eek – imagine if there were no rules while playing games. I doubt playing ruleless Monopoly would help make me the proud owner of Park Place AND Boardwalk at the same time – an accomplishment still not checked off my bucket list.

 

Laws of nature, such as gravity, supply and demand, the laws of ocean tides – are all immutable. Nature’s law stands tall and unchangeable – always. The laws of civilizations DO evolve. They are mutable. The secret to living in freedom in mutable law is to recognize that laws are always changing, what is causing the rules to change and your place in them. Case in point.

 

For fourteen years, we have lived in a “resort” park, whose style is popular in Florida for the winter. The park had rules regarding what you could put on your lot, hours when noise should cease, and due to the small lots/size of homes, how many residents were allowed to live in the property at one time.

 

Over time, the demographics of the owners morphed from northern folks – those from New York, Michigan, Indiana and New Jersey – into mostly Cuban owners. I love Cuban culture. If you live within a block of a Cuban family, you are automatically their family. Food, fun and a loving heart have been the core of every Cuban resident I’ve ever met. My experience of Cuban culture has been exemplary! However, Cubans party late into the night (of course, I was always invited) and love to load up their postage-stamp-sized lots with multiple trailers of boats, jet skis and the like. Although there were rules against replacing palm trees and grass with motorcycles and boats, as the culture of ownership changed, so did the enforcement of the rules. I love palm trees, flowering bushes and Birds of Paradise plants. I’m an artist. My eyes were hurting from the newly unsightly “industrial” look of the surrounding yards.

 

Now I could have joined the condo’s board and fought an uphill battle to have the rules on the books enforced. Instead, I moved.

 

Rome was one of the first cultures to exemplify bureaucratic rules. From engineering to language to the legal system, Rome’s contribution to a well-governed society is considered priceless. Yet Roman society crashed and burned slowly over hundreds of years because of culture changes, other conquering cultures, both religious and secular and quite possibly bad leadership.

 

So, what’s my point? Rules evolve based on the culture that is in place. Natural evolution. Live with the rules or do something about it rather than complain. Is there a culture shift going on in your little spot in the Universe that you can embrace? I love the Cuban culture, but I also like quiet nights in which to sleep.

 

My new place is loaded with rules. It’s quiet at night, and beautiful landscaping is everywhere. However, as in any “well-ruled” society, there are always those (including myself) that work to avoid the rules.

 

Did I mention that I hate rules? Sheesh.

 

AFFIRMATION: I dwell in the perfect peace with the perfect rules to enhance my own growth.

“I'm Catherine Wilcox, working to help others see that God is in all things, all the time, through conscious change and self-healing.”

If you have found this message enlightening, please send it to one friend.  This action will help my vision of a more enlightened species to help usher in the new healing Age of Aquarius.

Catherine Wilcox is a Conscious Change Coach, Mentor, emotional intuitive and Writer. If you like what you read here, then you may enjoy one of her Published Books:

**Catherine’s latest Book, The New Stone Age, Crystal Data for the 21st Century, contains ten chapters of information designed to help the novice and intermediate crystologist obtain the secrets to working with crystals to help the four mind-bodies balance chaotic energy.

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