Ho-Hum

Giving life and purpose to this Blog has been carefully crafted and a lot like making fudge.  I love fudge, but if I had to make it, I’d never enjoy eating it.  The process of running around, timing and the patience to scrape and fold the mixture to keep it from running over the edges of the counter is a delicate balance of mind and matter.  I truly thank the world’s candy makers for laboring so magnificently to give me this wonderful concoction.  But I will not be making fudge on OTOLI.

Now that I’ve started this, what I will do is offer a point of view from my seat outside looking in.  Henry Ford has been quoted as saying, “Before everything else, getting ready is the secret”.  Getting ready to write this Blog is what I’ve been doing.  I’ve excavated life experiences to come up with material to support this concept of sharing that lends to an outsider’s point of view.

I think I’m under-read most of the time.  Do I want to appear more perky and talkative?  No, I think I perk just fine and there is no need for me to blog if I have nothing worthy of sharing.

I’ve been described as laid-back or down-to-earth and centered.  Or too quiet and serious.  Nothing could be more untrue.  I like being centered.  Centering anchors me to believe in what I am saying and doing.  Speaking just to speak has never been my way and would never work for me.

OTOLI

Speaking as one outsider and not for all outsiders, I’m affected by what I see, hear, what happens and how I respond. 

Everyone knows that one point of view is never the final word in a point of view.  “On The Outside Looking In” (OTOLI), if you have a fly-on-the-wall view of events, you may be privy to more information because you are closer.

Are you an Outsider? 

Registered users are invited to share a thought and make comments in the spirit of voicing the Outsider’s opinion.  However, if comments are unkind, profane or pointedly unflattering in any way, they will not be posted and registrations will be rescinded.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this Blog are intended to be resourceful.  Permission to reprint, must be acquired.  Postings and comments are welcomed.  However, unsolicited negative references or innuendos to actual individuals and entities will not be acknowledge or published.

revelation.

I had a strict upbringing, deep South, by definition a Grandmother who taught some values that I hold true today.  They are:

1. Respect yourself.
2. Treat others as you would like to be treated
3. Be a lady
4. Know the difference between right and wrong.

Do any of these statements need further definition?  If you’re too young, you might not get them.  If you’re too old, you might not even care.  If you’re successful, you might not agree.  And so on and so on.

A few weeks ago, I was in a part of the country that still refers to Black or African-Americans as colored.  I was taken aback.  The individuals mean no harm and I didn’t exactly take it as such.  Still, I wanted to find a way to as gently as possible ask them to refer to me in the current terms.  Being referred to as colored takes me back to a childhood of times and shameful events spoken about in hushed and whispered terms.

Another example of speaking politically incorrect is referring to someone who is obviously disabled in some way.  Yet, this person did want me to include her disability in the fabric of our conversation.  Her stance was, “I can do anything you can do.”  I thought to myself, “No, you can’t”.  But I meant no harm and I did not want to argue with her, so I let the matter fall.  Still, if left me feeling uncomfortable, because I meant no harm, nor am I ignorant or intolerant.

So, I ask, have we become so politically correct that nothing we say or do is safe from misinterpretation?  Is it really so important to immediately out and grandstand a poor choice of words. 

I am not always sure I’ve pinpointed a defining opinion that doesn’t offend.  The gray areas have widened and the left and right and right and wrong concepts seem to have narrowed.  Sometimes, wanting not to offend, I say nothing.

And so, being an outsider, I wonder if I feel this uncertain, can anyone else be so sure that they’ve been insulted or pre-judged.  I have to say, sometimes I miss the actual defining lines of black and white and sometimes I wish the grey matter areas would go away.

We learn by example as well as by choices and missteps.   Fulfillment comes in so many ways, a job well done, a pat on the back, a bonus or a raise a new hairstyle, an elegant meal, or a simple thank-you. 

I find myself looking neither to the right or left, or trying to keep up with the other fellow.  I am strongly focused on my own dreams and goals.

Shoulders back, we must move toward our dreams and desires while making the best of all situations.