Author: dougsdawgsguy

Full-time deep thinker for life, part-time (i.e. 60+ hrs / week) engager in things necessary to live. Blogger, writer for the sheer enjoyment of sharing the experiences and vibrations of life.

YOUR UnCommon CORE

Our common experience is birth. That’s pretty much it. We depart ways at that point. For the remaining time until death, our individual lives twist and turn in remarkably different ways. We adapt to customs, walk through experiences, and jump over unimaginable hurdles.

Yes, we are uncommon the second after we are born. From that point forward, however, we may need help and guidance focusing our individual light on the right path.

If we’re lucky, someone will hold our hand along the way:

Could be a great friend. A “meet you where you are, close, warm, caring, come with me regardless where the road goes kind of a person”.

Could be a great mentor. A “follow my example, learn, read about my life, hear my wisdom, follow my path kind of a person”.

Could be a professional. A “look at my education and experience, study as I have, work hard, practice, and apply youself kind of a person”.

Could be a deity. A “read my book of instruction, invest your time studying my sacred book of life kind of being”.

Could be nature itself. A “Sit by be and meditate, look up and breathe deeply, stretch your arms out and embrace the flow of the creek kind of thing”.

Could be a parent. A “Here’s what I did when I was your age, disciplined, engaged, provider, loving kind of a person”.

….or, really any weird combination of the above. Whatever works for you. All or none.

Could be just you, though. Arguably, THE best “uncommon” ever born!

Holding your own hand. Being your own advocate. Your best friend, mentor. The go-to person. The one who laughs at your bad jokes and cries with you when your emotions are tired and worn to the core.

Hey, take all the hand holding help you can get from as many friends and family folks available. Life is uncommonly hard.

But, remember, you need to be you 24/7 … that’s been the plan the second you were born, so hang in there.

Being Considerate

I like to consider things. For example, the “what ifs?”, “whys?”, and “huhs?” in life – (to mention a few near the top of my list). Doing so keeps my spirit fully engaged…not only with the mundane drudgery of the day to day, but also the higher, loftier air of possibilities. Both have the “what ifs?”, “whys?”, and “huhs?”. Whether my mind is embracing the expanse of our Milky Way, or my mouth is telling the same joke for the 100th time, I am caught up in considering the possibilities.

Seems a bit complicated. Really, it isn’t. It’s just me – and I’m kinda cool with it.

I’ve been asked, “Why do you need to know why?…Why is ‘why’ so important to you?”… My internal process of thinking churns through possibilities – over and over – until I come to some kind of resolution (which doesn’t always happen, btw. Case #1: slow drivers in the left lane!). That’s the “why”….I need to know. Important to me? Yes. To anyone else? Probably not.

I was raised by parents who were loving but individually quirky. I have goofy genes. I am a philosophically leaning, piano playing, fifty-something wiener salesman with two college degrees. Kinda makes anyone go: “huh…why?”

To which I reply, “Hey, y’all gotta consider the possibilities in life.”

It’s all part of my day-to-day life….and I get to tell a joke or two along the way.

Explore one “why?” in your life today. Maybe you’ll get an answer, maybe not. In either case, it’ll be well worth considering.

Little Girl

Little girl once missing. Little girl once gone…now gone forever. She was a precious one few of us knew except through Amber alerts on our phone. No more alerts. Just sad news that she was found. Gone forever in a park. Alone – with only our hopes she would be found alive. Not to be. So sad for all of us. She could have been a great person. Instead, she won our hearts and became even more remarkable in her passing. May the stars accept her soul as the infinite hope she was to all of us…

I saw a Moment








I saw a moment today. Two individuals – possibly in their fifties – a few feet behind an old tree, hugging each other. As I drove by, I could see only her face, not his. She was sad. Didn’t know the circumstances of the embrace. Not to be nosy, but I wish I had the advantage – albeit briefly – of being that tree….just to witness, a bit longer, the compassion and grace being extended to her…and, quite possibly, more of the back story – which is not really important, anyway, to the “why” of this post.
He gave his time. She needed a hug. Big, small, relevant, or meaningless to anyone else…..to them it was a moment that mattered. A moment behind a tree on an lazy Labor Day afternoon.
I’ve wasted many moments doing stupid things. It’s hard for any of us to get around without tripping over our own fallibilities. We get sad and need hugs. We see friends who are sad and need hugs.
Maybe, just maybe, all of us can look for an old tree once in a while. That way, when we hug someone who needs it, a fifty-something dude can drive by, see it, and pay it forward on Facebook during a lazy Labor Day evening.



	


	



			
				


			

			
When love is unknown
		
	
	

		

My silence calls, I know such need
by asking "why", I here concede
To love's forever, ever creed:
" 'Tis you I ask, for you, indeed..

..must find the path to answer so
my query small - as I must know."
My heart awaits in time as though
it has no place.  No place to go.

Please answer soon, my star awaits.
So speak thy words, your love creates
a stop in time as hope elates...

While silence fades and "why" abates.

	


	



			
				


			

			
New hope
		
	
	

		

Those who love you can’t hear your beautiful sounds if the silence surrounding you is louder.
Those who love you can’t see the brilliance in your heart if the darkness inside you is brighter.
Those who love you can’t hold your warm hands if the moment you need them is unyielding.
Those who love you can’t taste your sweet prose if the sourness of your life remains uncorked.





For the only way to sense your magnificence is to embrace the experience of your life.  All of it.





Be willing to shout through the silence, “I am here and need someone, who loves me, to listen!”





Be willing to say, “My heart is sad. Through my tears, listen to what I say.”





Be willing to say, “Hold my hand.  I need the support.”





Be willing to say, “I am using the words only I can use.  You are holding my hand.  Listening.  I am grateful.  Thank you.”





In the challenge of hiding all your bad moments year, after year, after year…you missed the days that could have been fulfilling and joyous. 





Taste, see, smell, and hear.  All of it.  The good AND the bad.





Revisit.  Touch again.  This is, now, your new hope. 

	


	



			
				


			

			
Impossibly Possible
		
	
	

		

     If the possible is seen only from what has been, then there is little point in dreaming.





     However, we are gifted the impossible.  We close our eyes to dream – to see the impossible:  blind to the influence of others, enraptured by our wild artistic musings, caressed with grace, and reach beyond our longest stretch.





     For me, I would rather be open to what is blindly impossible than see clearly the possibilities based upon my failures and successes in the past.  For in my unknown future waits quietly a blank staff, an empty canvas, a mystery so enticingly rich, so sweetly beguiling, so mercifully tender that it makes my past seem almost impossible unto itself.