From the Outside Looking In

Trey Smith

If you are new to this blog, I wouldn't be surprised at all if you might wonder the following: Why is a blog on philosophical Taoism written by three white male westerners? I can't answer for Scott and Ta-Wan, but I can share a bit of my own journey.

Due to Asperger's Syndrome -- a high functioning form of autism -- I always have been an outsider. From as early as I can remember, my peers thought I was strange. This involved not only the way I interacted with the world writ large but how I perceived it as well. As I grew, I began to understand better that there indeed was a divide, but I'll be damned if I can explain it!

In my grammar school years, I felt like an outsider looking in. Much of what seemed to interest my contemporaries was of little interest to me. What interested me was not shared by my peers. So, I was never part of the popular and, in some cases, not even the unpopular cliques; I was in a group of one. Not surprisingly, I spent a lot of time alone.

As I grew into a teenager, I identified with underdogs since I was one myself. I think this is why I am more open to peoples and ideas that do not fall into the mainstream of American ideals. For example, even as a young lad -- much to my bigoted paternal grandfather's horror -- I tended to idolize black baseball players rather than white ones. My two greatest baseball heroes were Willie Mays and Ernie Banks.

When watching westerns on TV or at the movies, I rooted for the Indians! All throughout my life, I have been a student of American Indian history and culture. It just so happens that many of their spiritual beliefs are similar to that of philosophical Taoism. (I will feature two quotes from the Apache leader, Geronimo, in subsequent posts today.)

My outsider status probably explains why, in graduate school, I was open to the exploration of the writings of Karl Marx and Malcolm X. And it probably explains why I oppose capitalism today and side with the needs and hopes of the proletariat. 

So, when I spied a book on Taoism several years back -- a word I don't think I was even familiar with at the time --  I thought to myself, "Hmm.  Why not explore it!"  As I read and studied philosophical Taoism, it resonated deep within me.   Simply put, it made sense to me.

As I became more acquainted with the various themes and concepts of this belief framework, I decided to start this blog, if for no other reason than to expose other westerners to these very same themes and concepts.  And that's what I've been doing since 2005.