Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Pervasive Parenting 

By Kodey Toney

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

As Christmas approaches I'm reminded of a few things. This is the season, first and foremost, to remember our savior Jesus was born. This is also the season for giving. We can't forget though that this is the season for outcasts to be celebrated.

That's right, we celebrate weird men in red suits, little people with pointy ears, and reindeer with special needs. 

Wait, what!?

Ok, let's look at this. Rudolph had a malformation of the nose which stood out from his peers. This was probably genetic, maybe environmental, though nobody really knows the cause of his rhinostereometry, it has been studied extensively and debated heavily over the years. 

What we do know is that Rudolph was an outcast, misfit if you will. His peers teased him because they didn't understand how cool he really was, or see his potential. They were just conforming to social norms and stigmas that generations before had created due to fear of the unknown. 

Therefor, he was sent off to this secluded place where he would live in solitude, or with "others like him". 

This wasn't something he could help. He was born this way. He and his parents didn't ask to have that bright, bulbous appendage attached to the end of his face, but it was a part of him. It was a characteristic that made him who he was, and he learned to live with it. In fact, he learned how to cope with it so well that he could use it to his advantage. 

The fact is, once he had someone who believed in him and saw his potential, the world found out what he could do it his special abilities was very useful. 

You see, Konner and Rudolph, or anyone with a disability for that matter, are not very different. I'm sure this was the moral behind the story by Robert L. May when he first wrote it in 1939, and that it's not a new concept. I just thought it should be mentioned again, because I can now relate to it better than when I was a kid. I think many of you parents out there can too.