Mind-Body-Spirit, Work in Progress OR Where the (Missing) Keyword is Support
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
A reader asks if the novels on my 'Fiction in the Subject Field' blog are gay-interest fiction. Most are, and there are only a few anyway, but Mamelon, for example is a fantasy novel:
https://rogertaberfiction.blogspot.com/2016/05/news-updates-fiction.html
Meanwhile...
One of my childhood friends had always wanted to become an engineer. Both her parents, though, and older brothers were teachers and it was assumed she would follow the family tradition and any idea of a female engineer was a considered passing fancy, an absurd one at that.
The family moved away and years later we met by chance, and she related over several pints of Guinness how she had been persuaded to enter the teaching profession, after finally giving way to 'emotional blackmail' on the part of her family. After a few years of teaching, she realised "...it just wasn't me. I neither enjoyed nor hated it, and I think I was fairly good, but I knew I would be a far better engineer." So she gave up teaching for engineering, always more than capable of turning any sexism on its head. She and her scientist husband, had three lovely children, and the rest is history... We lost touch, but I would get news of her from time to time. Apparently, the parents never quite forgave her for breaking with family tradition, but came to terms with it in time; such is the power of love over most of its nemeses.
We all need family and friends to give us the time and space to be ourselves, free of any pressure, however well-meaning, to follow whatever path in life they may well believe is right for us (or for them?) but the chances are self-awareness tells a different story.
Being true to ourselves, and giving self-awareness credit where credit is due, may not always be easy, but necessary if we seek peace of mind. Not all 'devil's are malicious, although it has to be said that most if not all can be very persuasive. I was very close to my mother and loved her dearly, but she did her best to dissuade me from going to university as a mature student (I was 25) because I had not done well at school and she thought I was overreaching myself. Even so, I went ahead and managed a BA Hons, class 2/1 in English & American Literature at the University of Kent in Canterbury which consequently enabled me to do a postgraduate course in librarianship and be the librarian I'd always wanted to be; it also gave me the confidence to come out to the world as a gay man, but that's another story altogether...
MIND-BODY-SPIRIT, WORK IN PROGRESS or WHERE THE (MISSING) KEYWOD IS SUPPORT
Falling part at the seams,
trying to put myself back together
but only pipe dreams
to work with, though not the best
of working materials,
especially when the only tools
to hand are high hopes, vulnerable
at the best of times
Getting nowhere fast, need
to look at alternatives to a chorus
of "I'm doing fine, thanks,"
to anyone who cares enough to ask;
surely, we owe it to ourselves
and each other to get real, allow
give selfie genes a fighting chance
to fulfil their potential
If the devil takes the hindmost,
don't let that devil be me, in growing
more bitter every day,
blaming the world's falling apart
on its creating a blueprint
for an humanity unfit for purpose,
shaped by fake news, devils in details
and social media trolls
Let common sense, get the better
of faux stereotypes, common principles
and voices for Human Rights
truly make themselves felt, endorsing
a diverse human nature,
while shaming any native prejudice
rushing to judgement for the culprit it is
without fear or favour?
It was never in the lap of any gods
that humankind has proven itself better
by far than its worst,
for it's in human nature to resist
the push and shove
of its devils by standing up for itself
and all it believes in, not least a freedom
of choice to be or not to be
Last heard of picking up the pieces
of you-me-us found on any urban street
or country lane, cast aside
for fear of causing offence, upsetting
nearest and dearest,
needing to be put together,
prevent our humanity going into free fall,
and taking Earth Mother with us
Copyright R. N. Taber 2019
A reader asks if the novels on my 'Fiction in the Subject Field' blog are gay-interest fiction. Most are, and there are only a few anyway, but Mamelon, for example is a fantasy novel:
https://rogertaberfiction.blogspot.com/2016/05/news-updates-fiction.html
Meanwhile...
One of my childhood friends had always wanted to become an engineer. Both her parents, though, and older brothers were teachers and it was assumed she would follow the family tradition and any idea of a female engineer was a considered passing fancy, an absurd one at that.
The family moved away and years later we met by chance, and she related over several pints of Guinness how she had been persuaded to enter the teaching profession, after finally giving way to 'emotional blackmail' on the part of her family. After a few years of teaching, she realised "...it just wasn't me. I neither enjoyed nor hated it, and I think I was fairly good, but I knew I would be a far better engineer." So she gave up teaching for engineering, always more than capable of turning any sexism on its head. She and her scientist husband, had three lovely children, and the rest is history... We lost touch, but I would get news of her from time to time. Apparently, the parents never quite forgave her for breaking with family tradition, but came to terms with it in time; such is the power of love over most of its nemeses.
We all need family and friends to give us the time and space to be ourselves, free of any pressure, however well-meaning, to follow whatever path in life they may well believe is right for us (or for them?) but the chances are self-awareness tells a different story.
Being true to ourselves, and giving self-awareness credit where credit is due, may not always be easy, but necessary if we seek peace of mind. Not all 'devil's are malicious, although it has to be said that most if not all can be very persuasive. I was very close to my mother and loved her dearly, but she did her best to dissuade me from going to university as a mature student (I was 25) because I had not done well at school and she thought I was overreaching myself. Even so, I went ahead and managed a BA Hons, class 2/1 in English & American Literature at the University of Kent in Canterbury which consequently enabled me to do a postgraduate course in librarianship and be the librarian I'd always wanted to be; it also gave me the confidence to come out to the world as a gay man, but that's another story altogether...
MIND-BODY-SPIRIT, WORK IN PROGRESS or WHERE THE (MISSING) KEYWOD IS SUPPORT
Falling part at the seams,
trying to put myself back together
but only pipe dreams
to work with, though not the best
of working materials,
especially when the only tools
to hand are high hopes, vulnerable
at the best of times
Getting nowhere fast, need
to look at alternatives to a chorus
of "I'm doing fine, thanks,"
to anyone who cares enough to ask;
surely, we owe it to ourselves
and each other to get real, allow
give selfie genes a fighting chance
to fulfil their potential
If the devil takes the hindmost,
don't let that devil be me, in growing
more bitter every day,
blaming the world's falling apart
on its creating a blueprint
for an humanity unfit for purpose,
shaped by fake news, devils in details
and social media trolls
Let common sense, get the better
of faux stereotypes, common principles
and voices for Human Rights
truly make themselves felt, endorsing
a diverse human nature,
while shaming any native prejudice
rushing to judgement for the culprit it is
without fear or favour?
It was never in the lap of any gods
that humankind has proven itself better
by far than its worst,
for it's in human nature to resist
the push and shove
of its devils by standing up for itself
and all it believes in, not least a freedom
of choice to be or not to be
Last heard of picking up the pieces
of you-me-us found on any urban street
or country lane, cast aside
for fear of causing offence, upsetting
nearest and dearest,
needing to be put together,
prevent our humanity going into free fall,
and taking Earth Mother with us
Copyright R. N. Taber 2019
Labels: ambition, convention, culture, emotional blackmail, family, human nature, human spirit, life forces, love, mind-body-spirit, personal space, poetry, religion, self-awareness, society, stress, support, support networks
posted by R. N. Taber | 15:24
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