Tag Archives: deep stretch

The Genuine Article

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In a world of artificiality and pretense, there is a heavy value placed on authenticity. Pull back the curtain, peel off the filter, and slide down the mask. Let us see who you really are. Be brave enough to shine and showcase. We’ll all applaud your courage and welcome you into this incessantly judgmental society with wide open arms. No one will snicker or jeer, roll their eyes, or whisper a whiff of denigration. Climb into this giant velvety warm blanket of unconditional acceptance and approval. You’re finally safe. You’re finally home.

Then the alarm sounds and the dream ceases to exist.

It seems as though we want “realness” only when it settles comfortably into our preconceived concepts of conformity. When boundaries are blurred or the delineation between normal and abnormal gets a little fuzzy, we get antsy.

A degree of flexibility is needed to achieve cultural balance, and those muscles only get looser with the deep-stretch duo of time and education. It is a gradual, steady progression. Any significant historical change is measured in millennia not minutes.

The prescription is not to abandon the trek but to find more forgiving terrain. There is power in the plodding and nothing worth achieving is ever accomplished quickly or without pain.

So keep pushing, keep fighting, and keep exploring ways to solidify the concrete around your feet. Stay connected to the earth and remain grounded.

Keep it real.

Adolescence Interrupted

Parting clouds

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Riding a bandwagon in the backseat of the planet’s most unoriginal thought, let me be the millionth person to comment about the rigor and emotional discomfort of the past twelve months. Guess what, everyone? Things were a bit difficult last year.

But, for the first time in a deep stretch, I see a future lined with silver optimism and some serious potential for the globe to recognize lessons learned from reaching out for a hot stove, simply to see what happens.

If our collective crispy singed digits weren’t enough of a system shock to take a different course of action, it seems we are drowning in a sea of punishment gluttons who relish the disruption of every conceivable facet of their lives. If that’s the case, we’ll need a lot more than masks, common sense, and science to save us from ourselves.

Offering benefits hidden inside doubts, I’ll wager this next spin around the sun feels more like fuzzy slippers than frozen skates. Just the ability to walk out of a grocery store without immediately initiating NASA-level decontamination practices is enough of a reason to rejoice.

Suffice to say, our limbo stick expectations aren’t very low. Most of us would gladly take normalcy over excellence, and the installation of leaders who are intellectually capable of recognizing the stakes will benefit the greater good, regardless of how much detractors resist the helping hand. But “normal” needs to wear a different outfit or we’ll still be able to see the stains.

A fresh start to something stale. A moment to reflect, banish, and then change. Watch this worldwide debacle get smaller in the rearview as we walk into a better and brighter tomorrow.

Raise your hand if you’re ready.

Adolescence Interrupted