Happy New Year for the umpteenth time, already! Enough with the resolutions that fade away as quickly as spent firecrackers. Instead, how about a few “what if’s”? Who doesn’t enjoy daydreaming, especially when the daydreams are human-size and quite doable?
What if…
- we selected one item of clothing a day for the next seven days, put the clothing in a box, and then donated the clothes to a shelter for the homeless?
- when passing strangers wearing surly or unhappy facial expressions, we smiled and said “Hello!”
- we contacted someone we haven’t talked to in a long while, perhaps a childhood friend? “Hi, Martha! Hello, Kathleen”!
- we held a door open for those behind us, regardless of their age, gender, or race or of ours?
- we admitted we MUST talk about our nation’s legacy of enslavement and the price we continue to pay because we’ve never talked about it honestly, one-on-one or group-to-group? And what if we listened to each other instead of talking AT each other?
- we held each other blameless for the cruelties of the past, but held each other responsible for understanding the cellular level pain that accompanies the ever-present rejections, underestimations of character, intellect, and ability that many of us continue to experience?
- we proudly claimed our demographic identities pertaining to age, gender, race, religious affiliation, sexuality, profession, socio-economic status, political leanings, and geographic location, but refused to be boxed in by those descriptors?
- we rejected being told for whom we will vote because we’re: college-educated-suburban-white-women/Southern-black-men and women/millennials/baby boomers/X-geners/blue collar-straight white males/middle of the road mid-westerners/uber-wealthy corporate execs/latinx Evangelicals?
- we went to the Polls this Spring and next Fall, shrugged off every expectation placed upon our demographic group and voted for the preservation of: our democracy, decency, humanitarianism, and a candidate who possesses the intellectual capacity, empathy, and self-expressive skills beyond that of a five-year-old child?
- all of the above were reality and not simply “what if’s”? Change begins with little steps, one person at a time.
Renée Bess is the author of five novels and the co-story collector of the anthology, “Our Happy Hours, LGBT Voices from the Gay Bars.” She remains proud of the moment a former colleague accused her of being a modern day Don Quijote always “dreaming impossible dreams for [her] students.”
Lovely, Renee. I always enjoy what you write. I probably haven’t tweeted in months and months, but this one is definitely going out. Thanks!
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I thank YOU, Allison!
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I would like to give this 10 likes, at least, if I could. You always make so much sense, Renee, and communicate you ideas clearly.
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Thanks, Lee, from your second most ardent fan. (“L” of course is your number one fan.)
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What a nice thing to say. Thank you.
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What if I said I want to accomplish all ten! Mindfully! I’m going to work on that.
Great list, great writing. Thanks 🙂
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I’m confident that you can accomplish all ten, Ms. M.!! How wonderful it would be if more peeps accomplished only a few of these “what if’s?”
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THANK YOU
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You know you’re more than welcome, my friend.
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[…] 21 Jan.: Author and Women and Wordster Renée Bess has a list of “what ifs” for the new year, and we love how she’s reframed that whole “what if” thing. Join her in pondering. […]
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