Author's Note: I've noticed that many of the people who use google to find the site end up on this page. The post below is very old and pre-walk, although you can see some of the stirrings toward that future in my mind. For the recent Wilderness Walk for Wounded Warriors posts just click on the Thoughts Askew banner atop the page and you will be sent to the newest stuff. Cheers!
As I count the down the days until my trip to Costa Rica I have been in a reflective mood. Mainly I have been reflecting on how I am sick of my job, but I won't go into that right now (unless you are hiring, if so let me know -seriously). When my mind has left the travails of working life it has settled on a grander notion - togetherness.
I don't mean that you must root for the Cubs just like me (I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy - apologies to Tedo and Ken, I should have never dragged you along on that doomed ride). In fact, sameness in thought or deed is not to be celebrated at all, one of the greatest features of our human race is the differences we have. Instead, I mean that we need to get a grip on the petty bullshit that divides us. Male/female, black/white, gay/straight, Christian/Muslim, or American/Mexicans (or Chinese, French, Senegalese etc.), none of those differences should matter in the way we treat one another.
When we allow ourselves to be divided by these separate categories we split ourselves into we serve the interests of people who gain power by playing on these pointless hatreds. I know my Aunt Edith would be disappointed in our behavior. She was born with down syndrome and she loved everyone equally (except for a vendetta she had with one other woman at Friendship Village where she lived, must have had to do with a man) and unconditionally. She taught me the importance of unconditional love and I hope one day to be able to meet her standard. I definitely still hate more than one person, but I'm working on it goddamnit.
Of course there is a point somewhere amidst all of this rambling and it is this: don't put up borders or fences between you and other people and don't let the opinions others may have of certain people effect your beliefs - find out for yourself in each and every case what the truth is about a person. Happy Holidays and fuck you Bill O'Reilly I love Christmas, but I will use whatever greeting I deem appropriate. Sorry Aunt Edith, I am will try to get better at this love thing :) Just don't tell me I have to hug Bill O'Reilly.
Cheers to you all! - Alastair
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