Personal Soliloquy (I am strange) part 3

I am strange, let me be
there's nothing wrong with me,
am I a freak for learning to read at the age of 3
is it odd that I sometimes climb trees?
Act my age so I'm told, but what does it mean?
Get the job, socialize and get in the scene?
My route is not defined by what others tell me
I do listen to them, but some can't sell me,
this American dream, the 401K
Would life be really better if I walked this way?
So I love the outdoors, I hike and explore
trying new things and opening new doors,
because within reason I like to test my limit,
I don't fall in line, brainwashed like a dimwit.
I am kind and I'm loving, I've got plenty of grace
but you piss me off I'll be verbal mace,
but it's my differences that bother people even when I'm not trouble
too many people trapped in their conformity bubble,
but what does it come down to, are they full of eNVy
do they secretly wish they could act just like me?
I'm a little off kilter, but I'm not deranged
for I am not "normal" for I am strange.

[n][v]

Personal Soliloquy (I am senstive) part 2

I am sensitive, hear me OUT
this thing called love, I have my doubts
It's not love itself that frights my heart
it's wondering if something starts to grow, will you dart?
Will you run out of the scene and out of my life?
Will you leave me with hurt that cuts like a knife?
I've been down that road and it hurts like Hell
I lose my heart and cannot tell,
where my heart goes and where goes my love
if it doesn't get returned, and to the dust I'm shoved,
I'm discarded, abandoned, no one to care for me
I'm left all alone, no one to offer up a prayer for me
Because internal repair takes a lot of time
and I'm left without reason, let alone rhyme,
So please if you will, take, receive and give
but remember that I am sensitive.

[n][v]

Personal Soliloquy (I am man) part 1

I am man, hear me ROAR
and you might ask, we want more
well I'll tell you this, I'm Mr. Fantastic
Plasticky and Mr. Elastic
I am egotistical and I am proud
I am a loner in this ever growing crowd
But I speak my mind and I do rock the ship
I aim for the heart and I shoot from the hip
I keep you guessin'
and your head I be messin'
is he for real or is he not
is he genuine or is he snot
you ask this of me and it's true
I'm the lovely sky of blue
but here's the thing is this really me?
Is this the one God has says I should be?
Or am I selling myself to you as a label
am I a story, some childish fable?
Am I the Hollywood American dream
Am I calm and collected, do I never scream?
HELL YEAH I scream, at the top of my vox
I am unkosher, uncouth and out of the box,
because I can't stand it when people define me
look at me and start to bind me
with ways they say the ideal guy should be,
but I can't be that way, I'm not sorry
I am who I am, for better or worse
and sometimes I can write this out in verse
I will make you laugh and maybe make you cry
I will be transparent and be real (or at least try)
Don't treat me like trash, I've played that game
and then I come across as someone lame,
and for some of my views well they might be banned,
but I stand in front of you for I am a man.

[n][v]

I hate news*

*Except for when it really is news...

I like to know what is happening in the world around me, whether by picking up and reading the newspaper or by seeing what's on the news stream via Yahoo, but when Yahoo has in bold print KELLY CLARKSON AIRBRUSHED OFF POUNDS FOR MAGAZINE COVER or JON AND KATE PLUS 8 (FILL IN THE BLANK) I just want to pick up my laptop and throw it out the widow.

Seriously folks, that isn't news; kids starving to death of malnutrition, AIDS and Dafur in Africa affect many... That IS news, that is what should capture our hearts and our minds and our attention.

Yet we buy into the false news, it sells and it weighs less on our conscience than having to actually do something about what we read and learn (oh no). I do believe as a human being first and a follower of Christ second, WE need to bring about change to this world, and not entirely from An Inconvenient Truth angle (although going green and using our resources wisely is a good thing), it is about working to help out our brothers and sister human beings in their plight, to help make life for them good and sustainable for them.

Lately I have been doing research as how to tackle Nike shoes for next year, no joke, I have been learning what has been bothering the people of Indonesia, China and Vietnam (where Nike shoes are made). A lot of what I read is that what they need is better treatment from their employers and better pay.

The latter is kind of obvious, that they need more money for what they do (and rightly so), we as a consuming capitalist society (as a nation, but as individuals I suppose) take advantage of our brothers and sisters overseas; don't say that the prices at Walmart or Old Navy are that low out of the kindness of both companies heart's, they are that low because they can do so after ripping off poorer cultures of the world.
God has been nudging me in a direction where I am not consuming as much, but in the wake of not buying what I want I was left with a NOW WHAT remaining in my head. My answer came in the form of talking out some of this with a guy I met in Tennessee, he informed me that a big part of it is reinvesting in the countries and the people to continue what they're doing, but helping them out with better treatment and pay (right on with what the workers of Nike ask for!), to bring about change for an area from the ground level up. He got me thinking and now I am working at what next summer could hold for me to help out where I can.

If I truly want to be a global citizen, if I truly want to reflect God's love outwards to those around me both near and far, I will take notice to news that is really news and find ways to help out where I can. It might not be a case of stepping out of one's comfort zone, but it might just have to mean expanding the size of one's comfort zone. Bringing change is doable, it might cost a lot but the rewards are worth more than one can imagine.
Let's bring about change, let's care for our fellow man. Let us get concerned about news and events that really matters in the long haul.

[n][v]