A few
years ago I went to a concert of James Taylor and Carol King. I had
heard their song a millions of times in my life, and every time I heard
it, it stirred the emotions inside me. It is of sorts, a flagship of my
thoughts. I have tried, and always will try, to be as good, and inclusive,
with friends and family as I can be. To this day it still makes me
teary and I think of friends and family. It conjures up memories of the
past and its relevance to the present. Music has always given me strength and
pleasure, it makes me meditate, it makes me happy and it heals my
sadness.
Happy and sad tears are
quite often discouraged with guys and if you do have tears, a lot of people out
there say, 'Ah yea, he is gay.' 'That's what they do.' I however, find tears
to be a cleansing, a renewal to my soul, a joyful peace release.
Something that I feel is my greatest asset, something that stirs my
emotions, something that brings me alive. (Also good for the tissue
manufacturers!) It gives me an outpouring that makes me strive to be a
better person. And you know, I don't care what people say about tears.
In fact, I think that most worldly decisions would be better made over a
tear and a thought for our fellow man.
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| peacetour.org |
I
remember looking around that concert stadium and seeing tears, and
emotion, run rampant with that song. Tears from people of all creeds,
colour, age, and gender. If their were no tears there was a sea of
glazed eyes thinking of goodness, love and peace. There was not one
sign of bitterness, or hate, to be found. Yes, tears and emotions were so
high, that one would wish now that all political and religious decisions
were made there and then. If all
political and religious leaders showed the emotion of that stadium, there
would be no wars. There would be no segregation, no discrimination and
no missiles aimlessly launched into airliners that hold the treasure of
family, friends, and professionals who may well hold the key to disease. The world would be a
far greater place.
Personally, I
would recommend that, that song, should be a worldwide anthem. Scrap the
anthems that have no current meaning. Make 'You've Got a Friend' the
anthem! Encourage our children who are our future to sing it loud, to
sing it proud. Without friends and without emotion this world cannot
survive. Encourage our religious and political leaders to take a leaf
from children's minds. Minds that see no barriers of race, colour,
gender or creed. Minds that are genuine. Minds that depend on love. Minds that are nurtured by caring and minds that see only good in
people.
Encourage your children to
feel emotion and, to express it. These children are our future. As
adults, let's dispense with the thought that tears and emotion are a sign
of weakness. Let's encourage an outpouring of our souls and only then
may we feel for our fellow man. Let's make this world a stadium of
feeling, compassion and friendship. Let's not teach our children our
bigotries, our biases our selfishness or our greed, but teach them the
love that we give them in their cribs. The love that they are the most
wonderful creatures on earth.
Only then can we see a world that is truly better without wars, without missiles, a world full of peace love and harmony.
These are my thoughts. Reach out today and tell someone you love and care for them. It can only get better.
Cheers!
Bitchescoz
Contact: luke65mcbride@gmail.com
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| studentofpeace.org |
For the last week or so I have had a friend stay with us and she
suffers from cold urticaria (basically hives) that causes skin
irritation and gets very itchy when exposed to the cold. I only just
recently found out this condition so I read up on the prevention methods
of it. I knew she was coming into our winter and I did not want to see
her scratch away.
Google is a great
source for those who would like a basic knowledge of things so my
fingers did the clicking away. I read up on doctors forums etc and
found that one basic fix was prevention. So my partner and I decided to
hit the shops. Another past time of mine so it was no big deal. We
searched for warm clothing, boots, gloves, hot water bottles anything
that was out there for prevention we swiped our cards so as not to let
them catch this dreaded condition. Before
she arrived we ask her to check her medications etc and sure enough she
changed those and all started to correct itself. She works in air
conditioning that is set by her bosses to freeze an expression off a
Cheshire Cat. We asked her to rug up in there and to her amazement the
itches subsided.
When she arrived
here we handed her a fluffy dressing gown, warm slippers and yes she
resembled a purple Eskimo but no scratching. We cranked up the central
heating and I persuaded her (ok nagged) to follow through with our
preventative measures. Gay boys learned many years ago that covering up
was the only prevention to stopping a formidable itch so to speak. Apart
from an occasional scratch, that was borne out of stubbornness not to
conform, and not to cover her load, she came to the conclusion that we
were right. Of course, I said and would proceed in my distribution of
prevention.
This friend of mine is a
great doer but never for herself. In the past few years she has only
started to get away from her comfort zone of home and work and has had
quite a few trips to here. Other than that, she does not venture anywhere.
Her husband went on a holiday to Europe
but, alas he went with his family. She stayed
snug in her cocoon. My partner and
myself are heading for Europe at Christmas. We were hoping she would join us, and from that moment, the barriers came to the front
of conversations. Oh its cold there she would say! My response, "Buy
warmer clothes'. They do have central heating you know. We got past
that and then the truth started festering like irritations on her skin.
This woman is scared to leave her comfort zone.
Yes,
we discussed quite heatedly sometimes which is great for a person in
her condition. Stops hives before the cold even sets in. This is a
problem she wants to fix also but has never had anyone stop and help her
before. Everyone until me (oops) has let her fix their problems and
forgotten hers.
This topic bears
discussion. Do we take time for others? Do we look beyond our noses to
see others need some nurturing no matter what the age? Yes she is
somewhere between 40 and death but doesn't she deserve some excitement
of her own. Doesn't she deserve to be the receiver and not the giver?
We
all must learn to look around us. There are people out there that need
help. People in our own families, friends, children. Unless we offer
help, these people will never leave that cocoon. Yes, some people want
to live like Greta Garbo and 'want to be alone' but some have no choice
because no one has taken the time to inquire. With
some people it might take a little time to set them free, but surely
everyone is entitled to a little gentle push, a caring hand. Or you may
like to borrow my little gay nagging outfit. Either way, try the
rewards can be a win, win.
These are
my thoughts on the matter, drop us a line and give us your thoughts. I
enjoy the debate. All those who do email us know that this world is a
far better place together than being separated and it scratches your
itch too.
Let your friends and family know 'You are not alone'
Cheers!
Bitchescoz
Contact: luke65mcbride@gmail.com
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