What's the Big Ideal?

I have a friend who "leaks". Let me explain.

This weekend my wife and I attended the wedding of a wonderful couple: Shaun and Jessica. Lisa and I have known Shaun for a number of years. Shaun and I go back to before Lisa and I got together (over ten years ago). We've shared both times of joy and times of pain. The "highlights" and the "lowlights". Shaun is an "ideal" man. He is tall, handsome, has great hair, is physically fit, plays sports, and works hard. And he "leaks".

At one of our Memorial Day picnics, Shaun came with Jessica. Jessica. Talk about an angel. Jessica is sweet, gentle, funny, beautiful (she has the most amazing eyes), caring, and is in love with Shaun. And Shaun is in love with Jessica. Did I mention he "leaks"?

I said Shaun was the "ideal" man. In the eyes of society, he is. In my eyes, he is that and much more. Shaun is one of those rare men who is not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve. When he is happy, he smiles so big it looks like his face would break. When he is angry, you instinctively know to give him space. And when he is in sorrow, he is not afraid to cry. And it is that unashamed ability to shed tears that makes him more than the "ideal".

What is it about tears? Why do we cry? I heard it said that the reason we do is because we are experiencing an emotion so tremendous that our very being can't contain it. And we "leak".

When the doors opened and Jessica stepped into the church, Shaun's face showed his awe, his love, and all the pent-up emotions that came to fruition at that moment.

And he "leaked".

Shaun and Jessica: May you walk each day unashamed of who you are and who you are together: never hiding what's in your hearts. May you continue to love each other with all of your beings with such intensity that those moments come when words fail. And you simply "leak". God bless you, my friends.

-j.p.

© Emittravel 2015

I Am Here for You

My ear is yours
            scream if you want to
My shoulder is yours
            cry if you want to
My hand is yours
            hold on if you want to
My mouth is yours
            be encouraged if you want to
My heart is yours
            be comforted if you want to

Be your pain

            physical
            emotional
            social
I am here for you

Be your sorrow

            immobilizing
            paralyzing
            debilitating
I am here for you

My ear

            shoulder
            hand
            mouth
            heart
            are yours

Always

 

J.P. Wiegand

©Emittravel 2005

Words of encouragement to a hurting friend. I wanted her to know that she isn't alone; nor does she have to suffer alone.

It's humbling when someone opens up to you and shares their pain with you. As the saying goes, "sorrow shared is halved - joy shared is doubled". Makes being a friend all the more significant. -j.p.

 

©Emittravel 2013

"The Facts Ma'am, Just the Facts"

My wife follows a number of blogs that hope to inspire better education. Being a high school teacher, she is always looking for ways to improve her craft. As she was going through some of her RSS feeds, she played a video from www.joebower.org that actually annoyed me. She was kind enough to send it to me so that I can share it with you, and give you my inevitable two-cents.

http://www.joebower.org/2012/07/save-libraries-with-book-burnings.html

Before I rant, I just want to say that there is a lot of good things presented on www.joebower.org. The above link is an exception, not the rule.

First off, I'm not a card-carrying-member of the Tea Party. Nor am I a part of the oh-so-honorable Occupy Movement. I am a person who does something on my own: I think. And in this instance, I'm thinking that the message above is an insult.  Here's why:

According to the video, the Tea Party kept the conversation to "taxes, taxes, taxes". It's no wonder, since the topic at hand was a tax increase to "save the library". Being that those who supported the tax increase knew that they were on the losing end (with an economy in the toilet, people stretched beyond limits, and a government spending billion after billion on failed bailouts), they had to change the conversation. What did they do? They lied. Call it what you want: clever marketing; a play on words; expanding the truth. In the end, it was a lie. Instead of talking about the tax increase they came up with this "book burning" story - a falsehood, a slanderous premise, a lie. The Tea Party had no desire, nor ever considered, burning books. But when you can't win with facts, you change the argument.

They pummeled the story of book burning in any form of social media outlet possible until every non-thinking entity was screaming at how terrible the Tea Party was for wanting to burn books. Again, something they've never put into their bylaws or mission statement. At the last minute, when they were about to get "caught" with the lie, they said that not funding the library would "be the same as" burning books. Really? Are you kidding me?

So, the lesson here is, don't worry about the facts. Facts don't matter. Emotion is the key. Better yet, don't even mention the facts - they only get in your way.

© Emittravel 2012

Oh Man, Not Another Poetry Lesson!

One type of writing I post on this blog is poetry. I know that many people don’t give a turkey’s quill feather about poetry, but I’m okay with that. I post them because they are about My Humble But Accurate Opinion. But instead of the musings of my mind, my poetry runs the spectrum of emotion. Starting in December of 1984, and running through the present, I’ve attempted to capture the issues of life as I experienced them.

The first poem, “Dreaming of You”, was written during some major changes in my life. I had gotten into the U.S. Navy a few months prior; the first time to be truly away from home and on my own. I was in love with a girl back home and missing her terribly. So, for the first time I put my feelings into writing. Truly one of my favorite poems.

After that I used that creative outlet to express myself. The way most of these came about was that I felt a deep desire to write, driven by an emotion strongly felt in my heart. Usually, the only way to describe that emotion was to start writing. I compare the experience to “giving birth”. Not that it’s something I’ve ever truly experienced, mind you, but the cycle seemed the same. It was laborious to do. Sometimes I didn’t like the challenge of picking up the pen, because I knew what I was getting myself into. Not until I knew the poem was complete would that emotion subside, and the “baby” was born.

Not all of my poetry came about in that fashion. Some simply were the results of exposure. Being a sailor, the life of strip bars and pornography was a usual part of the life, and effected my outlooks and me.

I guess the most important thing to notice as you read is my hunger for God. When I had turned eighteen, I had abandoned my roots as a Catholic to look for God on my own. I had become greatly disillusioned with what I grew up believing, and felt that there had to be something more. You will see in the writings my hunger for Him, and my eventual coming to know Him through a relationship with His son Jesus.

All in all, these writings came from within me. They were attempts to express my opinions and myself. Not all of them will strike you, but they don’t have to. But rest assured, at one time in my life they struck me – that’s why they were written.

I wish I could share some of the more recent works, but nothing has come out in awhile. Who knows? Maybe I'll be "struck" again and write more.

I post them with their original dates for a reason – they are a reflection of who I was at that time in my life. I hope that through them you may find some of yourself as well, or at least give you reflection on that person you used to be.

© Emittravel 2011