It started with a text message, or so I thought. I realized that it has been something on my mind for sometime now.
I completely hold strong and true in believing that people have a right to their opinion. Furthermore, I think it is completely erroneous when we as people try to shut down or cease another person's opinion. After all, that is what we are all here for as bloggers - expressing our opinions.
With all of that being said, opinions can and often do carry a lot of weight. Opinions can even compel people to do destructive or constructive things.
I as an individual person am rather inconsequential in the whole realm of things. Yes, I can and do possibly have an impact on a small amount of people in my life, but in the grand scheme of things there have been billions before me and there will be billions after me. Whether you are in denial or not, you are in the same situation. You may not be easily replaced in your immediate family and close friends, but in the greater whole of society you are replaceable and rather insignificant. However, when we ban together and unite as a whole with significant numbers, we do have an impact and the power to change things.
When we are united as a whole, we must not let the power get to our heads. We should evaluate things clearly and fairly. Indeed the beauty of democracy is when we use our united power appropriately and for constructive reasons. Often the most difficult of obstacles in our democratic society is the ability to allow all sides to speak clearly and openly. We must permit this to occur. Then we should evaluate the opinions and determine the validity and wholesomeness within. And lastly, form our opinion.
Who are we as individuals to tell another person or group of people what happiness they may pursue, when it contains no harm and does not contain negative ramifications on our society. Why must we hold others back from the possibility of happiness and their constitutional right to their pursuit of happiness. Are the reasons due to selfishness, phobias, fears, or perhaps maybe even a religious dictation. Is their pursuit of happiness getting in the way or altering your personal pursuit of happiness?
I like to consider myself as a reasonable and fair person. I really benefit from looking at both sides of the story and I openly encourage both sides of aisle to express their side and opinion. So please honestly and truly help me understand. Please demonstrate to me the harm and negativity that will come from letting two people of the same sex get married and share the same rights as everyone else in society. Please explain the opposing side of the argument.
I must admit years ago I thought in the way of the opposing argument. I am attracted to women, but I thought same sex marriage was not right because it was foreign to me and it was not the norm. Then I started thinking about it for myself. What if I found this amazing girl perfect for me in most every way. She was smart, funny, attractive, liked stand-up comedians, etc. Then what if I wanted to take that relationship to the next step and get married, possibly start a family, and maybe even spend the rest our lives together. We would sit in our rocking chairs when we are 80 years old, look into each other's eyes and remark on what a great journey we had together. Then my dear wife, the one that I have spent 50 plus years with, is hospitalized. It stops me cold in my tracks. This is the same thing that happens to many same sex couples. I can't make any important decisions regarding her and there is a possibility I can't even see her. There have been times like this before in the past 50 years when I was not allowed to be there and felt rather powerless. This was the beginning of my change of thinking.
Hopefully you get something out of this and possibly see a little more clearly of how people who are attracted to the same sex feel. It is not up to you to tell another person what type of food they allowed to like. Furthermore, it is not about whom you personally deem is appropriate for another person to be attracted to. It’s about allowing the same rights and privileges for all members of our human society. I believe there is a good majority of us as individuals that constantly strive to be kinder, more caring, and all around better people.
Our undergraduate is complete, we have our bachelor's degrees, well they are in the mail, so what now? Friends you once had are all going their separate ways and attempting to find their destiny. Well as you may or may not know, Lauren has been accepted into VCU’s Education Counseling Master’s program. I still have to take my GRE test and apply to ODU, VCU, and GMU for Sociology. Also you may or may not know we have made the decision to move to Richmond.
My family and Lauren will be in Richmond, and depending on what happens with my graduate school acceptance, I might be using Richmond as a home base. I don’t know exactly what is going to happen, that’s part of the adventure I guess. If I get accepted and decide to attend George Mason in NOVA (northern Virginia for you out-of-staters), I might take a semester or so of online classes then possibly move to NOVA. If I am accepted and decide to attend VCU, obviously I will stay in Richmond. As far as ODU goes, I don’t know what I will do. I guess maybe it’s because I haven’t moved away from Norfolk yet, but as of right now I don’t feel like moving back here.
It might seem to some people that one of us (Lauren or myself) is following the other. In a sense that is true, but I'm starting to see it more in long term. We both have similar and independent reasons for moving to Richmond. We both like the idea of moving away from O.D.U. for a change of environment and diversity. This is not to say that O.D.U. or the people here are bad, but rather just going somewhere different and getting a change of scenery so to speak. Trying my best to speak for her, Lauren wants to go to V.C.U. for the program they offer and try something new. I want to move back to Richmond for many reasons, but one of them is that Richmond has become somewhat of a hometown for me. I believe part of this is because so much of my maturity happened while living in Richmond.
Another major part of my decision for moving back to Richmond is because of my family. It has been fine living in Norfolk visiting the family every other month or so, but I’m at a point right now in my life that I would like to be close to them if possible. My bro-in-law’s soccer contract is up after this season and there is the possibility of relocating therefore, I would like to spend as much time with them as possible.
Life is very interesting. Sometimes you do things that you normally wouldn’t do and they end up being the best and most influential things in your life. I don’t know exactly what my future plans are for graduate school, but I do know that if you told me two years ago that I would be applying to grad school I would have laughed at you. Sometimes life will take you to unexpected places. Again, say 5 years ago, I never thought I would be living in Norfolk Virginia of all places and have a Bachelor’s degree. Maybe what I am trying to get at is, life takes you places you might not originally imagine, but I think they key is to continue to work hard and try to better yourself everyday and great things will come to you.
P.S. For all you “critics”, you know who you are, Lauren, just know that I do actually write bloggs about once a week, but I don’t necessarily post all of them. I guess I’m not a completely “open blogger” yet. At times I feel like I should not share everything about me to the world. Plus I prefer to share more in face-to-face conversations.
The End… for now
What you were doing 10 years ago.
I was 14 years old and in the 9th grade. I was living in Utah and the school district we lived in had Elementary K-6, Jr. High 7-9, and H.S. 10-12 so I wasn't fully going to high school but I guess technically I was. I had just bought my first snowmobile and I think 2nd truck. I had a few crushes but I can't remember any one specifically -- I guess maybe Ashley Costley because I had a crush on her since the 3rd grade. Life seemed to be going well and I was working after school for my uncle at a Nursery & Garden Center planting trees, watering flowers, mowing grass and all the fun stuff that goes along with that.
5 things on my to-do-list today
Ugh I despise to-do-lists because I never complete them on time. However, I usually have 3 or 4 lists a week
1. Go to my favorite class of the semester Sociology 320 - Social Inequalities
2. Do prep work for social research project we are conducting on tuesday for Comm 401 - Communications Theory
3. Do research & start powerpoint on teen pregnancy for Soc 300 - Social Problems
4. Hopefully go running (this one is likely to be pushed aside due to lack of time :(
5. Study for test on Thursday for Comm 401 :(
Snack that I enjoy
I've recently reconnected a relationship with nonfat yogurt, cashews, and peanuts. I consider this to be my attempt-to-be-healthy-snack. I mix them together and enjoy! I feel healthier when I eat this vs Reese's Peanut Butter Cups which I consider to be my naughty snack.
Bad Habits
-I eat too much when I drink. Especially being that I want to lose some weight
-I just love too much
-Side hobbies – see #1 on 5 things people don’t know below
-I’m sometimes too nice to people and let them take advantage of that. I’ve been working on this a lot lately and haven’t been letting people walk all over me. This has been especially hard with working in a restaurant – where do you draw the line?
If I were suddenly a billionaire I would…
-Change who I am and drive most of my close friends and family away
-Buy my parents, my mom, and sister new houses, cars, etc.
-Party too much and get into trouble
-Buy all “the stuff” like cars, houses, planes, land, etc.
-Start a private school – not entirely sure if it would be a College, H.S. or Grade School
-Pay off student loans
-Visit all my friends and family that live elsewhere
-Buy lots of technological stuff… maybe just buy my own Apple store
-Finish school and go to Grad school somewhere in CO
5 Places I lived
Norfolk, Virginia *currently
Richmond, Virginia
Glen Allen, Virginia
Ogden, Utah
Sacramento, California
Where next? Hopefully graduate school and Richmond
5 jobs I have had
Super Server – California Pizza Kitchen *currently
Super duper Server – Topeka’s Steakhouse Chesapeake & Richmond
Head of Receiving Department – G.T. Reid Equestrian Sales
Merchandising – Costco (Helped for Christmas season)
Asphalt Conditioner Guy – R.L Sealcoating
5 things people don’t know about me.
1. I get really involved into little side hobbies or projects and then move onto the next. This might sound like a good fun thing but its not. I get this from my dad but I feel he is a little more extreme than me. I get very engulfed with doing a side project, researching new technology, politics, etc then move onto the next little obsession. For example, when I bought my mac a couple of months ago I did endless research and kept on obsessing about what little accessories to get. I would spend hours on different websites looking at keyboard protectors, customer reviews, screen protectors, consumer reports, carrying cases, memory, etc. After I bought like 4 basic things I moved on and started obsessing over different kinds of fruit and low-fat yogurt.
2. I’m from Utah and I’m not a mormon. This makes me a little unique because I spent close to 15 years there and practically grew up there. I mean seriously, other than people living in Ut and reading this, how many people do you know that lived in UT? I moved to Virginia to live with my dad after H.S. when I was 18.
3. I bought my first vehicle when I was 13 of 14 years old. If I remember right I was in the 8th grade and bought a ’47 Willy’s Jeep from my uncle Dale. It was partially restored and needed some work. Obviously I couldn’t drive it.
4. I never graduated H.S. This would be a shock to most of the people in my life. Other than close family, friends from H.S. and significant others, no one really knows. It’s not something I deny from people, but it’s definitely something I don’t willingly tell. Most everyone already assumes I graduated H.S. Plus it’s a lot easier to just go along with people and agree. I went to H.S. all the way to the end but didn’t have enough credits to graduate. At the time I wasn’t willing to take the additional classes necessary to get the diploma. About 8 months after H.S. and moving to VA I received my G.E.D. I have my Associates degree but I think I’ll be less sensitive about the whole thing once I get my Bachelors.
5. I’m a Libra (the scales) and am always striving for balance. Is it the fact I want balance so bad that it becomes one of my biggest struggles? Or is it that I pay attention to balance so much that I’m never satisfied with the balance in my life.
What time do you go to bed?
Ugh I’m so conflicted when it comes to this. Naturally I’m a night person. However, ideally I like going to bed “early” like around 1ish so I can wake up around 8 or 9ish to get a good jump start on my day. This rarely happens and most nights I find myself going to bed around 3 L and not waking up until 11ish. I really wish I was more of a morning person.
Pet Peeves
-F.W.S.S. Floppy Wet Sock Syndrome. I’m not sure if it would be an actual syndrome or not but I hate it! This is when you walk into the kitchen, bathroom, or go to get the mail and you step in a small puddle of water. This gets your sock just wet enough that you tell yourself you don’t need to change it cause it will dry. However, your sock changes its form completely and gets loose and does nothing but flop around!
-Everyone Loves Raymond – Its so predictable and not funny. Enough said
Who do you tag?
I’m new to the whole blogger thing and am not completely sure what that is. Someone please explain. Copy and Paste this into your post, then delete the answers and fill in your own. Enjoy!
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