Okay, look. There has been, in the last year, a lot of horse shit being flung at all corners of the Interwebs, from all corners of the Interwebs. There has been a lot of name calling, labeling, and general putting-things-into-boxes like some higher being came along and Marie Kondo'd the whole institution of being a human being. This has been happening on all sides, and it's a waste of energy. Really. It is. Not one of us is only one thing versus that other thing. We are all the mutt at the shelter that nobody can definitively tell where it even came from. We are all, each and every one of us, fumbling around in the dark every second of our lives, hoping our fingers come down on the light switch and not into someone's eyeball. We ain't got shit figured out, is what I'm trying to say. Not me, not you, not that Republican, not that Democrat, not that whatever, not that whomever.
From where I sit - too old for nonsense but too young to know it all - I have cultivated a belief system that I am comfortable with. I like it. It's my jam. Without further adieu:
I believe we are all entitled to the bare necessities. Food. Water. Shelter. Education.
I believe our bodies are our own to do whatever the damn hell we please with it, if we have the means to do so. This includes abortion, gender reassignment surgery, plastic surgery, piercings, implants, tattoos. If you can pay for it you can have it. Far be it from me to judge your own choices you make with your own innards and outwards.
I believe there is nothing we truly own, except our time and our energy while we're still breathing. Our homes will exchange hands after we die, until they crumble. Our fields and yards will grow and then overgrow and then die and then grow again. Our money will be given away to other entities. Our possessions will be given to children or sold or donated. Even the things we create, the words and the canvases and the objects: once we release them for other eyes to see, they are no longer ours to keep. They belong to the world. The only thing we have is our time, and our energy; both are finite. Do not waste them.
I believe in kindness. I believe that's a no-brainer.
I believe in being able to say what you want. But I also believe in being able to call you a shit bag human being for saying them ... it's a two way street.
I believe in art. I believe in surrounding yourself with pretty things for no good reason other than being surrounded by pretty things.
I believe in helping those that ask for help and ignoring those who are just looking for the easy way through.
I believe every human being is worthy, until proven otherwise. If that happens, gods help you.
I believe in getting angry. If you hurt me or mine, or if you hurt those that can't fight back, this mama bear is coming after you. You will not like it, and I am not ashamed in any way to say that.
I believe in owning your words and your actions. If you prove yourself to be an unworthy prick due to either or both of those things, don't be surprised when people get angry with you, and certainly don't cry about how mean they are. Good-hearted people generally don't get eviscerated, so if you're bleeding out, perhaps consider what you've said or done recently.
I believe in trying to be the best person I can possibly be to everyone - but I also believe in being a bitch. Both can be enormously satisfying.
I believe in evolution.
I believe in spirituality. I believe it's a damn shame that spirituality has been all knotted up with the institution and the business that is the church. Leave it to bureaucracy to muck up a good thing.
I believe in science. Not just believe, I think science is the coolest thing human beings could have ever come up with - way more interesting than just saying "well God did it." I mean come on - there are these honeybees in Japan that were getting decimated by this huge wasp. So what did the little bees do? They figured out that if they surrounded the wasp, creating a ball of bees around it, and stayed very close together, it would snuff out the oxygen inside the ball. Except that's not quite enough to kill it, so the bees start vibrating. See, in the hive, they sort of rub their hind legs together in a way that produces energy, which keeps them warm in the cold months. When the ball of bees begins vibrating, it raises the temperature inside the ball, cooking the wasp while it slowly suffocates. Bees. Create a murder ball. To kill a wasp three times its size. Nothing in the Bible will ever be as metal as that.
I believe Jesus was a real person. I do not believe that he created a feast from three fishes, walked on water, healed leprosy, or died and came back again. However, I believe his real magic was an extremely thorough and deep empathy, the likes of which may never be seen again. His power was that he loved and cared for every human being that crossed his path, even the ones that sneered, and beat him, and ultimately killed him. He dared to help an adulterous woman, rather than stone her. He dared to hug a man with leprosy, a man who most likely hadn't been touched - even by other lepers - in twenty years. Science still hasn't fully explored the healing power of human touch, although there is plenty of evidence that it is vast. He dared to care. Do you?
I'm sure there's more but I feel like I'd start repeating myself. Put me in whatever boxes with whatever labels you want - this is who I am and that's all that I am. Much love and hugs to all who are still fighting the good fight, and may we all get through this weird thing called life.