The Just Cause

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
Henry David Thoreau

The Just Cause

Teaching a class at an art college, we were reviewing last week’s notes. Getting a lot of nodding, I was perplexed at one blank stare. When asked, this was the answer, “What? I’m just a dancer”.

It was a shock. That a person would diminish themselves in that way hurt my soul. Now, every time I hear the word “just” it is like an alarm ringing. I would ban it from the English language.

It is just my wife.
It is just ten dollars.
It was just a kiss.
It is just a chocolate bar.
It is just a video game.
It is just a text message.
It is just twenty minutes.
It was just one time.

The Profound Bartender won’t say anything about if you respect your wife. Or remind you that people labor hard for an hour to earn ten dollars. The Profound Bartender knows that every kiss is meaningful.

Every act has intention knowing that small moments in life have importance. To diminish, minimalize or declare anyone as trivial by using “just” and a shrug of the shoulders is not living or giving honor.

No. You are an aspiring artist whose expression happens to be in dance right now.