Why should I bother?

I have been thinking yesterday... while arriving home after a social activity, which by attending I was able to sponsor a new bed sheet for a friend of a friend of mine (long story, do not ask *g*)... and was asking myself this question:

Why should I bother making something special out of my life?

And I tell you honestly, so far, I have no clue. I really do not know why I should bother making a difference in the world... creating a better place or such... I mean, I am living in balance with myself and the world... I am not bothering anyone, I am a pacifist, I do separate my garbage, I work my hours, I pay my taxes, I am tolerant towards others, I also state my point if I feel that it is important for me or others, I love my family and friends... I am quite happy with myself and thus do not feel like there is a need for going out and preaching my way to others. Also, where would I take the right to do so? To impose my private believes and values upon others?

This is a very strange thing for me to write like this... and a very strange thing to read what I have written. Just several months ago, I was still a strong proponent of the notion that we as humanity diminish by each one death there is in the world... And there are a lot of deaths in the world... many of them undeserved, unnatural. And that I should do something about those deaths... Change the perception of people, lead them to understanding (each other and the world around them).
Somehow that has changed. I still feel that we as humanity diminish by this acts of unneeded violence and cowardice and that there is a need for more understanding... but I feel like I have established stronger and more solid barriers - rules - to my behaviour for it not to be pushy and imperative. People should not be instructed in understanding... they need to want it. They have to arrive at the understanding by themselves. I may be able to catalyse this change but I am not willing to do this by taking drastic methods. It is the slow change, which is the strongest among changes... slow and steady.

After reading this thing again, I feel clearer about some of my values. And that's good.

However, I need to go back to the original question...
I had always seen myself as a hero... It was an archetype I have created around myself... and now, suddenly, I feel it to be wrong, as it did take over some of my life. It pushed me into decisions I sometimes did not wanted to make... to be on the front line, to be the mover of things. I want my ideas to be represented and incorporated however I need not to be the one who speaks for those ideas. I just love creating them. Creating concepts, new things, optimisations... I would even feel greater if these things would get implemented but that's not my role to play. Well, at least not entirely. :)
Maybe I also feel too much under stress with this archetype hanging over me... and I just want to get rid of it. It does mean also that I do ditch some of my personal expectations too... and that is actually an opportunity. :) To feel the void. And explore it... and let it be filled again, after I decide to do so.

Uuuuh... exciting! :D

Listening to: I have discovered a great jazz station: Jazz24 - they have an online stream and I so much enjoy it these days! Brilliant music!

The McDean story - A must-see!

I am not a big fan of daily soaps... I mean, until there is not a good story to be watched with some cute guys in it. It was a marvel and a pleasure to find out that there actually is one! Or was this year... It is called Hollyoaks and it is a British soap series.

The whole substory is circling around two guys - John Paul (JP) and Craig, who are best mates, till JP figures out that he is actually gay and in love... with Craig. Wow! That is however only the start of a high-end state-of-the-art drama-deluxe teen gay romance with enormous potential to suck you in and hold you at the tv screen for a long time. (As the World Turns has crappy performances and bad camera work, this one is way better!)

For those, who would like to give it a chance, the whole story - by fans dubbed as The McDean story (because of the names of the characters: JP McQueen and Craig Dean) can be watched on the youtube playlist JP & Craig from the start by crumpetsandjam. I will warn you though... it is about 96 videos! Well, ok... if you are interested in the main story, begin somewhere around January 2007 and work yourself up till October. :) And do not forget the handkerchiefs!

(At the end you will figure out why I am listening to Dusty Spriengfield so fiercely!) *g*

Listening to Findlay Brown - But you love me (the Other best song from Hollyoaks)

The Break(ing)

I know, I know... what a long time no see... I know. And somehow I feel, it was needed and useful. To me. The last two months have been quite uneventful on the outside and still very strong on the inside of me: work was tough but good, I have neglected my physical state even more than usual (who needs a shower or a shave! they are totally overrated! *ggg*), I was longing the whole time for something more, something higher and finer and greater and... but it was always just that - the Longing. No steps forwards, though no steps back neither. I felt stuck. I could not move. It was a feeling of being trapped by myself. By my indecisiveness and laziness. Precisely knowing where these bars, which were holding me back, came from... though at the same time not being able to do something against them. Not wanting to... The Longing was sooo much easier and comfortable. The wangling in daydreams, in daily routines, in goals set by others... It is so much easier to follow paths chosen by others.

The freedom has become one of my prime values and objectives in the last two years... I have never thought that freedom would be so important to me... and now, I suddenly go against it? Was it the feeling of a silent understanding that there is no absolute freedom which made me grow so weak during these last two months? Or was I just being fed up with the energy I have to create for me to feel free? Or was it maybe the opposite of freedom which I was unconsciously looking for? The bonding... I do not know.

I remember the catalyst of the change from the Break(ing) precisely. It will sound cheap but it is true: it was a Hollywood movie. It is called Freedom Writers and it is a story not dissimilar from the movie Dangerous Minds. A young fresh starter English teacher arrives at a school torn by gang violence based on racial conflicts. As a welcome gift, she receives a class of damaged kids and sure-to-be drop-outs. Only slowly she learns of the differences which separate these kids... and the similarities which connect them. She changes her curriculum after a moment of shock when one of the black students is mocked because of his big lips, which she compares with the beginnings of a holocaust, when people were treated differently only because they looked differently. The moments after depict the process of the class bonding together and trying to accomplish the unspeakable - the graduation. What was even stronger than the film itself is that it is based on a true story of Erin Gruwell, who was the teacher in question. The Freedom Writers have established a foundation which aims it is to help kids all over the US to reach over their racial borders and violence and achieve their dreams. I wanted to know more, so I have also bought the diary of the Freedom Writers, which was the integral part of their experience. It certainly is a must read for everybody! It is a great story of overcoming unspeakable obstacles for a greater good and personal future... in many ways it is also very emotional and staggering to read about these kids who have all these problems of dysfunctional families, street violence and multiple responsibilities and financial problems, who - despite this all - are making their best to reach their goals... and finally to compare those situations with mine, which is none of it. That did shift a gear in me.

Nevertheless... that was not the end of the story... October came with another surprise (another climax in the Break(ing): I came out to my dad!
Hah! Yes, I am 28 years old and I had finally had the guts to come out to my dad. (My mum and brother already knew.) I tell you, it wasn't planned... but it turned out great... well, not really. What I mean is that the overall outcome is great - I am out of the closet. The other consequences rather suck... and I will not put them online, as they are rather nasty... just ask me if you would like to know more... I am open to share.
I also think that he certainly will calm down with some time passing. :)

Hm... when speaking of Break(ing)... I do not think the Breaking actually came to a real climax of a Break. I kind of reverted it and gone back to what was before... which I do not like. I just have not seen the potential which was there and I am not sure about this other iteration which I am in right now. But there is not pushing in this state, I am going to see how it turns out. :)

Listening to Dusty Springfield - I close my eyes and count to ten right now.