I try every day to check into Facebook just to see who I’m going to write about for the day or see if the person from the day before got the tag so I know they know I love them. I used to worry about how many likes it would get or comments attached but that quickly faded as I saw the importance being the love shared… not the post. I mean really, aren’t I secure enough in my personhood at 41 to not need the validation of others found in a simple click of button or touch of a screen that produces a thumb up or heart? God I hope I am.
I try to check Facebook each day for that sole purpose. But then, and you know what I’m gonna say, those posts start flooding in. The ones counter to my beliefs or opinions. Oh how I hate those posts sometimes. Everyone, including me, with a bully pulpit to our “friends” spouting off whatever someone has done or said and pointing to the ridiculous nature of said action or quote.
I have a diverse group of friends. Not just on Facebook, in ACTUAL life. There is no way that everyone I know will like everything I post and their silence when they disagree is greatly appreciated.
I try not to post much in the hot button sections. And oh how many hot button sections there are. It seems like every day there is a new one to divide us a little bit more to put us in this camp or that one.
I try to post these blogs as a way to stay up and positive. I try not to include too much of my own opinions and views. I don’t always succeed but I try. Sometimes I get taken over by my dissatisfaction or anger. When I do speak of things of this nature I try also to speak of my shortcomings.
As I’ve written before, this blog is a stream of conscience work. I don’t edit. I don’t struggle to find a better way of stating something. I use it as an honest, raw platform to share love unabashedly. Even in yesterday’s post done on video. I hit record one time, said what I had to say and loaded it up to the world wide netty-web. I don’t know why it is important to state that. I just have this little voice back in there somewhere saying, “You need this polished and perfected before you put it out there. You have friends what write gooder than you and friends whom know when to use “who” and these things (… ; ; [ ] )
It takes a little bit to be brave and honest with who you really are.
It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just not as important to me as getting the thoughts out and the love flowing.
Last October Michael Higgins and I decided to take on a podcast idea. We called it “Rainbow Connection.”
I know, it sounds kinda, you know. I get it. I’ve had good friends come to me and say, “Stuart, the name. Seriously?”
We wanted to create a dialogue as two straight men trying to understand all those pesky letters of the alphabet that keep getting added. I think we’re at LGBTQIAA+ a this point. That podcast lasted about six episodes. Turns out, podcasts aren’t as easy to make as one might thing. I was never satisfied with the production quality and more over I felt like I was looking at only a small area of the world I am interested in learning more about. So, we pushed the pause button and said we’d come back to it when the time was right.
During those six episodes available and three others that haven’t been released I learned SOOOOOOO much about what I didn’t know.
Catherine in the middle, Michael on the right. That's the only time Michael will see me describe him as "on the right."
One of the people we met was Catherine Hyde. She is involved with PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and is a firecracker of a human being. I haven’t met many people with the passion that this woman exudes. She was so incredibly gracious to Michael and me as she opened up and told her story. I could go on and on trying to explain what her time with us meant to me but instead I’d rather you just listen to the episode.