Reunited - And it Feels So Good

Very quiet here in uptown Sedona. So, of course... I am online - making the time pass.

It is a reunion kind of day. All seemingly unrelated - I got an e-mail from Blake and another former classmate about the 20 year reunion in October of this year (hooray) - I found 3 other friends on Facebook as well - all from Highschool. So I guess there is something in the ethers!?

It is funny because I went to the reunion site and perused the mini bios that people have posted. I find it amazing how diverse all the lives have become. And of course I have my "hesitations" about going to a highschool reunion. All the insecurities that I lived through back then are somehow tied into the familiar names and faces as I scroll through the list.

I mean let's face it... those years are tough under the BEST of circumstances. But throw into the mix that some of us end up in alternative lifestyles.... well I have to admit that the Southeast isn't my FAVORITE environment as a gay Buddhist! Even when I go visit my family in Athens and Atlanta - I feel that shroud of that closet surround me again. Instinctively almost, I have to try harder to just relax and be me. (Which is even funnier if you understand the point of being Buddhist.)

That is actually a silly notion since these are my roots. Even though I was unsure about the truth of my personality back then - those friends and experiences and relationships during the "formative" years helped mold the final outcome... and for that alone I look forward to returning to Athens and telling all those familiar faces - THANKS FOR THE PARTICIPATION IN LIFE.

And we did have some times! Anyone who flips through their yearbook and is riveted by the flood of memories, thoughts, recollections - anxieties, bliss moments... all of it. That crazy time when you are discovering your life, your body, your personality, your faith - all the changes coming at warp speed. The bond of friends, the challenge of foes - the pressures of all that CRAP that everyone faces in those teen years - it all seems unending in that moment - but now twenty years have passed. And it seems somewhat trivial.

I hope we have all grown wiser, more encouraging of diversity, more accepting of our own flaws and more loving in our accomplishments, trials, losses and gains. Seeing the number of people already who have formed marriage bonds, had children, survived divorce, made great progress in a vocation or slacked a bit (ahem - that would certainly include me) - it shows that we are not cookie cutter products of the schools we attend.

I'll end by saying... Go Glads. And thanks for buoying my mood on an otherwise lackluster Friday in the shop.