A Thought About Favorites

A little while back I was sitting in one of my classes at school. It was a discussion section for a class on wildlife conservation and ecology. We had to go around and talk about our favorite animals, and why we liked them so much. The discussion started at the other end of the room and I listened as it worked it's way around to me. Over and over I heard people say, "I like chimps, because they are so similar to mankind in every way. One can observe them in their social groups and learn so much about how people relate to each other. Their warfare, tool making, and family structure is a perfect reflection of humans at an earlier evolutionary state." Or, "I am fascinate by wolves. How they hunt in packs and have an organized social structure is exactly like what prehistoric man must have been like. In wolves I hear the call of ancient ancestors and humanity before the rise of civilization." Wow, pretty deep stuff.

Finally it was my turn, and everybody was staring at me, waiting for my insight into the unknown mysteries of the animal kingdom. "I like squirrels." It just kinda popped out. People were still staring at me, trying to figure out if I was joking or not. "I like them because they are fun to watch. They crack me up." the discussion moved right on.

I didn't really mean it when I said it. I was just trying to throw out a different perspective. I was sick of prehistoric man, all of the national geographic special animals, and honors students trying to sound brilliant. However, after I said that I started to pay more attention to squirrels, and they really are awesome. They are always around, and always funny. This lead me to come up with a new policy for picking my favorite things.

What's the point of having a favorite animal that you will never see? What's he point of having a favorite food that you almost never eat? Why should your favorite place be a thousand miles from home? All too often, the exotic blinds people to the incredible things that surround them in their every day lives. It's ironic that somebody living in Australia will pick a wild pony as their favorite animal while a person on Assatigue island will think that there has never been any creature cooler than the koala.

I think that favorites should be things that are possible to experience in life as you know it. You should be able to eat lunch with your favorite person in the world, see your favorite band in concert, and notice your favorite color all around you. I guess what I'm driving at is this: open your eyes and see the world that is right around you! Everything beautiful is not far away. Everything remarkable is not out of reach.