Consider This
What happens when hell on earth becomes heaven on earth?
Will anyone even notice?
What happens to those who believe that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing us he doesn’t exist if they suddenly find themselves in a place where the devil truly does not exist?
And what happens to that place?
What happens when the excuses we all have used so effectively and acceptably to cover up our lies, shortcomings, or poor and self-centered choices stop becoming excuses and start becoming what really happened?
What happens then to those who really were sick?
What happens to those who actually made an honest mistake?
What happens to those who really did get stuck in traffic?
What happens to the man or woman or boy or girl who actually needed their rights read?
What happens when our faith in each other, in our families, in our friends and those we try so hard to trust in a world that has become so untrusting becomes something more than a belief or hope or prayer we struggle to cling to when doubt and fear and betrayal threaten to close our hearts and minds?
What if I really didn’t mean it the way you took it?
Will you stop hating me?
What happens when the most important lessons we strive to teach our children no longer need to be taught?
What happens when children really are smarter than their parents and teachers?
What happens when masculinity lies in one’s ability to be soft, not hard?
What happens when femininity is nurtured to be more than just nurturing?
What if I really didn’t understand?
What if I really didn’t know better?
Will you forgive me?
What happens when we stop telling people it’s OK to make mistakes and they are not supposed to be perfect and start allowing people to make mistakes and stop expecting them to be perfect?
What happens to a declaration of independence and a bill of rights in a world where all men and women truly are created equal and all of us truly are free?
What happens to those who fight for civil rights when everyone learns to be civil?
What happens to warriors when we finally win the war against war?
Do you have an exit strategy for your internal conflict?
Do you believe the people you believe in?
Do you believe in the people you believe?
I never allow myself to think those questions could have different answers.
So the line I ride is between the only two answers – yes and no – a choice between love and hate.
What side of the line do you stand on?
Do you even know where you stand?
How can you be so sure?
Don’t you realize the line is moving faster than you can run?
Here’s a philosophical wake up call taken straight from mathematical fact –
Every line we see is actually an infinite circle
So here is the real question:
Are you inside looking out or are you outside looking in?
Have you ever considered the possibility that our world is not the scary dark place we were raised to think it is?
Have you ever considered there is no such thing as necessary evil?
Have you ever considered that we live in a world of light and that is the rule, not the exception and if we stop living and hiding in the shadows we just might see that the shadows only exist because we are the ones casting them?
Have you ever considered that you might have spent so long in the light you started to believe you were the sun?
Have you ever considered that you might have spent so long in the dark you started to believe that you were the shadow?
Have you ever considered that the only reason anyone can’t see the light is because you have placed yourself above them?
Have you ever considered that the only reason you are in the dark is because you have placed others above you?
Have you ever considered stepping down the ladder instead of climbing it?
Have you ever considered inviting others to join you on the ground instead of trying to knock them off their pedestal?
Have you ever considered the possibility that all people truly are loving and kind and brilliant and beautiful?
Have you ever considered applying what you believe instead of just preaching it?
Consider it.
Done.
Something Smells Fishy
When you stock a pond with minnows those minnows will thrive and grow until they become fully mature adult fish. As most adult fish observed in the same pond vary relatively little in size, we are tempted to infer that they have reached their limit of growth both as individual fish and as a species. But people who started to observe multiple ponds noticed that some ponds tend to produce even larger mature fish.
Eventually we realized that the limitation was not something intrinsic to the fish, but a product of the fish and the pond in which it grows up. So we had the brilliant idea of transferring these fish to larger ponds. Timing is crucial; we must allow each fish to begin its life in the pond which it was born and allow it to grow to the point where it won’t be devoured by the giant fish in the pond which it will later call home. But we must act before the young fish’s brain sends the signal that its size and maturity is sufficient for its environment – lest it will arrive in the new pond without the ability to grow at all.
We discovered that in general, 18 months was the perfect amount of time to satisfy these constraints for the vast majority of fish. Read more…
Let me make something very clear to every teacher or wanna be teacher. This applies to parents, administrators and professional athletes as well. You are not a role model. Pause, and let that sink in for a minute. Don’t fight it. You are not a role model. Read more…
If You Can’t Laugh at Yourself…. Laugh at Me Instead
Sometimes God (I don’t have the energy to be politically correct, feel free to replace ‘God’ with any deity or lack there of that makes you happy for the remainder of this post) plays practical jokes on us that are just too hilarious not to share with the world. And as embarrassing as this may be for me, every minute you are reading my blog with laughter is a minute you aren’t reading ignorant and hateful comments on the Huffington Post with contempt for humanity. (please note that I am referring to the comments, not the actual content of the site) Read more…
Common Crap in our Schools
I am so sick and tired of the language used to push education reforms. Any teacher who has been around the block a few times has seen a few of these come and go and it’s always the same bag of burning dog feces wrapped up with a different pretty bow.
I was just reading an article pushing the Common Core standards and I just want to scream. America, please tell me you aren’t so easily manipulated! Read more…
Welcome to my Mind, Does Anything Look Familiar?
Warning: If you know me personally, this post may thoroughly blow your mind.
For some reason I have been drawn to parenting forums lately. I always hesitate to give parents advice because I am not a parent and I am afraid I will either be dismissed as unqualified or even worse – I will give bad advice which will start a chain of events ending in serious psychological disorders. But I finally realized why I am really good at working with children; although I am an adult, my brain still works exactly the same way it did when I was a child! Read more…
First, a little background. I was perusing a website yesterday which will remain nameless where I stumbled upon a request for support which I couldn’t resist responding to (no, the site wasn’t StumbleUpon). To summarize:
A parent was talking about his/her 18-year-old son whom they have decided – after painstaking deliberation and trying everything in the book – to kick out of their house. They compared him to a ‘typical rebellious teen’ who says inexcusable things to them despite their kindness and patience. He doesn’t work or do chores, he has no sense of responsibility or accountability and he has been stealing money and selling their things to buy marijuana. They referred to his friends as losers and compared him to a terrorist.
Before I share my response (which I feel was not sufficiently appreciated by that particular audience) I must point out a few observations from the original post: Read more…
My Mommy Says I’m Special
Special is a funny word. One might even say it is a special word. The word can imply greatness, value and affection, but at the same time imply high maintenance, abnormality, uncertainty and vulnerability.
Take a moment and think – when someone calls you special how does it make you feel about yourself?
It is really very confusing – is it a good thing or a bad thing to be special? In roughly third grade, children realize this duality of meaning and play it to their advantage in the battle for playground dominance Read more…
Dear GLBT Community
Dear GLBT Community,
Please go home and stop coming to Los Angeles gay pride. I love each of you and in small groups you are great company, but we can only fit so many people in West Hollywood at any given time. Might I suggest coming back sometime in November? It’s bad enough when President Obama came to visit and made me sit in traffic for 4 hours, and now it’s taking me over an hour to just drive through the intersection of Hollywood and Franklin. I think I am going to officially declare myself straight until the end of the weekend. I guess I hope you have fun while you’re here but next year please go to NYC or Provincetown instead.
Thank You
The Final Stretch of a Difficult Year
Ok, it has been too long since my last post and I am not going to let this blog fade away. The ironic thing is that I have actually written a lot in the last two weeks, but my mind has raced so much lately that I can’t seem to finish any of the pieces I have started. I have a document folder that is packed with over a dozen great (in my opinion) posts that are anywhere between 50% – 75% done. Then there are another dozen or so in the under 50% category, not to mention the countless great ideas I haven’t actually started yet.
So in an effort to be consistent with my output, my goal is to publish one substantial post every week on Sunday evenings/Monday mornings. I will still scatter in various rants throughout the week as inspiration arises.
I want to make the rest of this post a little more personal than normal. Hopefully it will help me center my thoughts and regain my focus without feeling like I have to write something extremely deep and meaningful every time I start to write.
I suppose I have been particularly distracted lately because we are approaching the end of the school year. This week in particular has been very emotional for me. At my previous school, one graduation requirement is the senior exhibition. Read more…
I am so sick of all this gay marriage crap that I want to just take all the gays and all the Christians and send them to their room without supper or Facebook.
Ok, that was a horrible generalization and overreaction – it’s only a very small percentage of Christians and the GLBT community that are getting me mad, but I hope that my opening line at least got your attention.
A Brief Tribute to Donna Summer
First of all, let me apologize for neglecting my blog over the last week. Landlords and utility companies apparently don’t consider “I was busy blogging” a good enough excuse to defer payment.
I was getting ready for a job interview this morning and tried like hell to avoid going to the computer – the unpredictability of Los Angeles traffic and my masterful procrastination skills have already teamed up to give me a reputation for tardiness and I don’t need my first words to a potential new boss to be an excuse or an apology. Of course, I had to look at the computer to double-check the address and time of my appointment and when I did I saw something that I couldn’t avoid. Donna Summer – the queen of disco – passed away this morning.
Does that title offend you? If it does than I have made my point. The English language is imprecise enough without all of our subtle inferences and connotations. Read the title again and this time read it exactly as it is written – because that is exactly what I mean.
I Hate You WordPress
I spend a lot of time reading articles and blogs and I try to contribute to them as much as possible. Blogging works both ways, right? When I get likes, (sweet) comments, (sweeter) or new followers (sweet Jesus!) on WordPress I always try to check out their work as well – you know, to be a good neighbor. The problem is, now that I have started getting a modest amount of readers (I’m just waiting for the Huffington Post to start begging me to contribute – any day now…) I have become rather scared. I’ve gotten the point where I cringe at the sight of that little orange square on the top right-hand corner of my screen.
Democracy and Diversity (pt. 2)
Ok, time to go somewhere I have avoided addressing directly thus far. I want to talk a bit about discrimination and all of those “-isms” and “-phobias”.
I read a couple of articles today that have once again driven me to the edge and made me question my belief that there is some hope for our race.
The Art of Truth and Learning
If you have ever had any personal relationship with me (especially romantic) please stop reading this right now.
I have quite a bit to say on the topic of truth. My views range from the philosophical to the physical and the interpersonal to the intrapersonal. But first, I want to talk about an entirely unrelated concept: lies.
Most of us are taught from a very young age by our parents, teachers, clergy and Judge Judy that lying is wrong/immoral/unethical. You should always be honest, no matter what.
Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the whole “is a lie ever justified if nobody gets hurt/is it ok to tell a lie to protect someone” routine. Not only has that conversation already been done to death, but it’s one of those questions that no matter what your opinions are you can always come up with so many irrefutable examples to support your position that debating it serves no constructive purpose.
Many people believe that truth and lies are opposites. People associate truth with good which logically implies that lies are evil. That simply is not true.