Sunday, August 17, 2014

Labels without Perspective

Media has been rocking with labels.
Black Man
White Police Officer
Conservative Republican Governor
Liberal Democratic Congressman
Female CEO
Gay Male Teacher
 
Slap a label,
create an image.
Make everyone's life easier
saves a lot of typing,
explaining about what is really happening.
No need to talk about the complex human beings behind
each situation and how they conflict with those epithets. 
         (Where would the story be?)

Drop the seeds into minds of the masses.
Feed and fertilize the stereotypes.
Let them grow into deep rooted
beliefs that
become hard to pull out
when change does come.

These thick trunks need to be chopped.
Hacked away with strong blows.
Chips flying and hitting people in the eye
and clouds of sawdust they need cough out of their lungs.
Then these beliefs will tip over and fall.

It takes effort to think and flip our minds
to change our Perspective
and remove the tags we place
for easy reference.

Was the Wicked Witch really "wicked"
or was she just not a "people pleaser" and chose
her own path?

Were Hansel & Gretel truly lost children
or juveniles from dysfunctional family structure,
fabricating alibis for their vandalism.

It is Perspective that turns an "Insurgent" or
"Rebel fractions" into a
Revolutionary and Freedom Fighters.

Block the constant feed of disparity and ignorance.

Consuming blindly leads to coddling these ideas.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Absolute Commitment

I've been seeing a lot of tattoos on the beach this summer and then all over Pinterest there are creative spirits sharing their own body art and messages to the world about themselves. 

I've always considered getting a tattoo and have played with different ideas. I wanted to get one for my 40th and still haven't decided on the design. I wasn't brave enough to get one in my 20's when my friends and I checked out tattoo parlors in Greenwich Village. I'm grateful I didn't it then because I might have selected something French like the Tour Eiffel, something literary, or Belle or Aladdin - my Disney obsessions at one time.

My suggestion is that one draw the design with a permanent Sharpie marker and see how it works.