I was reflecting on Lennon's intimely death today, and I began to think of all the great things, seeds, if you will, that he planted in my mind. I feel very luck to have had him as an accidental role-model, as growing up in rural Arkansas at my age, there were few others to echo his thoughts.

Here are some of the seeds he planted that geminated into my current value system:

1. That violence is a bad thing that is always incrdibly diffcult (if not impossible ) to justify.

2. That I don't have to be supported in my views in order to follow through on them, and that it may be normal for others to reject me or my ideas if it challeges peoples' current belief system. It's OK. I can go on without the support of otheres, it does not mean that I'm wrong for living life in a way that is not always popular.

3. Realizing that unfairness is a part of me, which is why I hate it so much when I see unfairness. I don't know why but that somehow helps me understand myself and others.

4. Helping me to accept the way many people make money. For example, (I'm paraphrasing) he was asked what he thought about people making money off of selling t-shirts, etc, of him when he dies (much in the way that happened to Elvis at the time). He said that it didn't matter to him, that poor people had to feed their families some how.

That was way cool.


Are there any values you have that were influenced by Lennon? Please share.