Random Thoughts and Mantra for May

Now I see what many say about getting older. I understand the power of caring and not caring. Most people don't. Sometimes, the folks that don't care are in a position of power or they wield enough to determine your financial value that's never quite equivalent to what you're really worth. Other times, they are just like everyone else: AVERAGE people...average people that others put on a pedestal because of that person's job title, possessions, annual earnings, attractive aesthetic, the love folks have for them, or something else admirable. Often times, we raise people on pedestals so high in our minds that really, the fall off is inevitable. Capacities to reciprocate are uneven because people are human and busy writing the stories of their own miraculous lives. And let's face it, caring is just not a popular endeavor these days, and perhaps it never was. No matter aesthetics, tangibles or one's sycophantic following, people are often what they are in their minds by their design for self-indulgence. I like being human and having the feelings most find unpopular. I don't need thick skin so I can accept the inequities of life. It's just good to know who you should reserve your special energies for. In the vein of technology, I must admit how strange I think this cyberspace-talk thing is. In a way, it seems like an inferior form of communication. By my measure, face-to-face interactions are more authentic because non-verbal communication speaks volumes. Someone's facial expressions, body language, tone of voice or the way their eye's dilate or constrict tell me all I need to know. In face-to-face interactions, there is no computer to hide behind. When it comes to other endeavors, trying to "hit it out of the ballpark" every day even when it's just not always possible, is for some, something that will never be enough. So I guess my mantra for May is that the stance of others should never mean more than your own because only you know your true value; and to paraphrase something one of the characters said in a movie called "The Joy Luck Club, "Know your worth" (obviously meaning, know your true value). Only then, will others see the boundaries between the area where their opinions stop and where yours start to matter. And while our culture may consider caring uncool, I know one thing is for sure: I don't care about being uncool. Never did. My spirit justs care about doing the right thing and making meaningful contributions by giving myself fully to the people that value me and the things that need someone to make a difference by caring. I've also always felt that if someone has to define themselves by the number of wins they have, how much "power" they yield in their profession, the material possessions they can weigh on their "Stepford Wives" scale, or where they fall on the range of a culture-subjugated popularity spectrum, then obviously, then they haven't evolved much since their high school days. Lest we remember that egos die in humbling circumstances. In the ashes of its passing, the seeds of humanity grow from its thirst to thrive.