Have a take! They're four for a dollar at T@rget

In a world rife with people who rarely an original thought have, I lucky myself consider. In spite of the widely varying belief structures of the group of people I generally refer to as associates, almost all of them are able to 1) be polite about a different point of view without ad hominem attacks, and 2) be thoughful enough to actually ponder the points someone is making an effort to share. Not that they change their opinions, but, at least they approach life from a relatively considered basis. They don’t let others instruct them in what to think. Each, in his or her own way, has a persona that is bold enough to allow for personal growth without being overly pressured by popular opinion.

Creative people often have flaws. Flaws that allow them to experience life in all its ecstasy and all its torment. But from fumbling because of their flaws, they also gain a sense of integrity and strength. I’ve often wondered if I would rather be lead by the person who has never experienced “Head up butt syndrome”, or by the person who has fornicated with the General’s small lion – not literally, of course - and still has the scars to prove it. Somehow, to me anyway, that second person seems to be the more, how should I say this… “human.” They’ve lived and can relate to life as it happens to those around them. I don’t think I care to have my life in the hands of those who haven’t lived their own.

That desire for life must be the burning mass in cosmos that draws us together. Like moths to a flame, which sometimes burns, we recognize the booze, er, spirits - for lack of a more clear name here - of those souls and just know they are a part of the collective. It’s not something we discuss. It’s not something we even want to discuss. It is what it is.

Doubtless, you are wondering what prompts this philosophical entry, so I will explain. Earlier today I read a piece by Leonard Pitts, a syndicated opinion columnist, about what it takes to write for a living. Pitts had learned that a writer in some Tennessee newspaper had been cutting and pasting his words into columns on a regular basis and calling them original work. He caused the gentleman’s termination.

As I looked through the five to four-hundred blogs that I read on a regular basis, I couldn’t fathom ANY of us doing so in our blogs, in our jobs, or in our lives. Trying to use another’s thoughts as our own. Taking credit for another’s work. Bettering ourselves through the effort of another without giving credit. I just conceive of that.

This is not a challenge to Mike or Tim to see if you can write one another’s blog entries and see if anyone catches it. And, since no one spends as much time in the reading room, or refers to it as often as RS, I have little to no fear of anyone attempting a character study and putting it to the test.

The thing I find I can count on is that, one way or the other, agree or disagree, our thoughts are our own. They each offer a unique point of view to this petri dish we inhabit, and I value each of them as they allow me to see through your eyes.

I really, really do.