AN INTRODUCTION
It's the start of a new year and the start of something new. I titled this blog Finding My Way because inevitably that is what we are all doing. No one is born knowing exactly what to do or say, when to do it or say it, or any of the where, when, how, what, or why's of it all. From the moment we are able to hold our own heads up, we learn as we go. The interesting thing about any journey is that I've never heard tell of someone doing it completely alone. On the contrary, and quite unfortunately, I have heard folks make untrue statements like, "I did it all by myself," or "No one helped me," when in fact I knew differently. But that's a topic for another time.
My purpose for today is to introduce Finding My Way to you and let you know that it is somewhat of a precedent to a book that is coming soon, by the same title. I do not intend to teach you, lead you, correct you, or anything else in this blog, or in the book to come. I intend to tell stories. My stories. And if they don't fit with your perspective, ideals, ideology, religious views, political views, personal opinion, your mama's thoughts and opinions, your pastor's knowledge of Christ and The Holy Bible, the LGBTQ community's ideas, whatever Atheists think, or anything from anyone other than me as the writer, you are extremely welcome to stop reading, go somewhere else and move on with your life. It is a blog of perspective...my perspective on my life and my experiences. If you know me, you are not surprised. If you don't like me, stop while you're ahead and don't do this to yourself.
Finding My Way will follow a sort of free style format depending on the course of my life. There will be short stories, essays, articles, poems, letters, and so forth in the flow of creativity and creative writing. All will be original and written by me with the sole intention of just sharing my journey. No one gets through this life alone and I don't think it is wise to try. Imagine the fullness and the colorful stories you'd miss out on by leaving others out. When I was a flight attendant for a major airline the last thing I wanted to do after working my tail off running food and beverages back and forth to the passengers was to hold an unentertaining, burdensome conversation with one of them. There was a specific woman I used to see on the flight from New York to San Francisco quite often. She stood out because as soon as the service would end, and before us flight attendants could eat a meal without a passenger asking for something, she'd get out of her seat and make a beeline to the galley to have a chat with whomever she could hold captive. I would see her coming and immediately hightail it outta there, up the other aisle away from her. One day, I wasn't paying attention and she caught up with me in the back galley. Immediately she started talking, giving me all pertinent information about herself in bullet points as if she knew I would run away at any moment. Come to find out she is a high functioning autistic person who started her own not for profit organization to educate the public on autism and to be of service to others who have autism. She had been on several talk shows, which was why she traveled our airline so frequently. And, she remembered the name of every flight attendant who did the route. She asked about Patrick, Sheila, and others I was quite fond of. She was phenomenal! I was so taken with her that I kept asking questions and eventually she excused herself to return to her seat. Huh! I thought. After all that time I spent running from that woman, I didn't want her to leave.
I never saw her again. I quit the airline and moved forward in my life in a different direction. However, there was an important lesson in that experience for me that opened me up to pushing past my hang ups that I may enjoy life and the other people God placed in it.
I hope you enjoy Finding My Way. If you learn something, then so be it.
