Nothing specifically New York-ish but...

...I've become more aware of the interconnectedness of the all things since becoming a part of such an extraordinary mass of human beings. In the large scale churnings of such a magnificent place, I find myself contemplating many aspects of human interaction on all levels.

In this mindset, and with the passing of the seemingly hate-filled Fred Phelps this past week and the wide range of viewpoints surrounding his death, I've given much thought to the motivations behind such rage and hatred and the continuum of emotions. His life certainly did exemplify the extreme of such emotions towards a specific minority, but gratefully, I believe this extremism has benefited more than harmed the call to equality.

On a wider scale, I've also been giving much thought to compassionate responses to such hateful stances--those marked as extreme stances and also, those marked as less offensive (sarcasm intended). Many responses to Phelps' passing have been beautifully compassionate, especially coming from the LGBT community, and it has made me proud of my LGBT...family. You see, everyone loses when we retaliate; it simply snowballs into a more hate-filled society and fuels the misunderstandings, the fear, and the ignorance. We must choose, I must choose to be the one who says, "Enough." I must be the one to choose compassion and peace as a way of life. It reminds me of the idea I often see floating around social media: I said to myself "someone should do something about this," and then I realized that I am someone.

I admittedly falter in this choice of compassionate response at times; inequality hurts a real, living, breathing human being and hurt can trigger my anger. Lumping a group of people together and applying a one-size-fits-all judgment may help in casting judgments, but in truth, these are individual souls--a child, a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, a friend--just searching for happiness, love, and peace like any other being. In this particular topic, I've been both the judge (ashamedly) and the judged, therefore I hold an advantage of having experienced each mindset and its effects.

Spring is in the air; perhaps its a perfect time for all of us to reevaluate our judgments, our responses, our viewpoints, and our motivations in regards to our place in the family of humanity. Spring cleaning of the soul might lead to a refreshingly new approach towards all of our fellow beings just trying to make it in this journey called life.

Married Life Suits Me

Ahhh, married life. A friend sent us a small little piece of décor that states, “I love us,” and I have to say that I couldn't have said it better myself. I love us in our tiny space with moving boxes for tables, I love us in our endless conversations, and I love us in the peaceful silence of just being together. All I thought I knew about love, happiness, and peace has been blown away by this Love I now call home—and now wifey.

I also love us in this city; I love that others around us see us as…well…as a legitimate us. I love that the girls at work threaten to tell my wife, when I won’t stop doing something in particular. I love that that customers ask about my wife’s school and our new “flat”. I love that we can file our taxes together and mark “spouse” on random forms. I didn't anticipate the true difference I would feel living in a city that legally and structurally acknowledges us. Our relationship, our love, our laughter, and our sheer enjoyment of one another’s company has not changed, except perhaps in growth, but it is a nice feeling to be acknowledged. I am truly grateful.

While my own feelings of peace are rapturous, my heart is heavy for my LGBT brothers and sisters in places such as Uganda, Russia, and unfortunately, I could add a few of our own United States to this list. I cannot imagine the terror or discouragement they feel. Because of the fear of violent discrimination, imprisonment, or in some cases, even death, they are not free to experience the us feeling that surrounds me every day.  As I am keenly aware of my own freedom in this aspect, I am also challenged to speak up for those, in all cases, whose voices have been silenced.

I wasn't always this free to be myself; having grown up in a society openly unaccepting of that which I felt I was, I understand, to a small degree, what the struggle feels like, although notably and gratefully without the elements of violence many of these now face. Many thoughts swirl in my head. It leaves me wondering what it might take for us to reach a point of nondiscrimination, nonviolence, and peace. Can WE reach a point where we can accept our diversity within the fabric of our interconnectedness?

A Monumental Week

June 26, 2013. Many events in history seem to become monumental in hindsight; it's only in the looking back that we are able to say, wow! Only in the looking back are we able to see how life changed, for better or for worse, due to such events. This week's events happened in a way that required no such hindsight for their wow-ness factor; in hindsight, the events of this week will only continue to be more beautiful as the tapestry of an [ever growing] enlightened humanity becomes more brilliantly colored.

I could not be more thrilled about Wednesday's decisions and what they really and truly mean for us personally, but I believe the ripples of goodness stretch far, far beyond what we are likely to realize presently. (but the Voters' Rights decision is still a bit mind-boggling to me!) At the end of the day, I am thrilled for our entire nation--those who continue the fight for equality and those who are still adamantly against it. Whether they ever see the rightness of the decisions made, equality, fairness and justness are good for the health of our nation as a whole--including those who oppose. President Obama's response was fitting: "When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free." The health and peace of a nation--of all humanity--depends on such things as equality and fairness.

Our Constitution's Preamble states: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. We are still far from the perfect Union, but when we throw a bit more equality for all into the mix, we have indeed stepped closer.

Ciao & Namaste.

Personally, the thought of being six short months away from a life in New York where our marriage will be legally recognized on the state and federal level makes my soul do a little happy dance.