THE LUNAR REPORT - "FEELS RIGHT" March 15, 2010
A while back I wrote about my writing. I received the following response from an old friend of mine after that Lunar.
“Looks like you're up against the journalist/columnist's dilemma: got to make the deadline so must write about the writing itself and/or create some news.”
Maybe he was right. Then. This time this is something I kind of have to write. The Lunar Report is quite possibly the best thing that has ever happened to me. Well – aside from my child, his family, my family and so on.... You guys know what I mean.
I don’t think any of you could argue that I have been anything but honest and open with The Lunar Report. It comes naturally these days. It feels right.
I never really intended this to be such a dissection of my life and feelings and thoughts. It just happened. I’m glad it did.
People respond. They respond in such open and honest and loving ways. The responses. They are so rewarding.
I have connected with old friends. Friends who share a desire to be honest with me about their lives. Friends who have actually done very well by their openness. Writing books and lecturing. Counseling others. Being human.
I’ve connected with long-time friends who say things like, “I never knew that about you.” I think they never knew because I spent so much time and energy hiding who I am. We all do that.
I have connected with my high school sweetheart. It was good to see her again.
I have connected with family. I have connected where I never thought connections were possible. I spent two hours last Friday with my first cousin from Atlanta. Until the Lunar Report, this cousin was just a family character. I know who she is. I know where she came from. I’ve always liked her. I just never knew her. She had always been the daughter of my aunt and uncle. A character that I see in a play that opens every couple of years. Then goes on hiatus for a couple more years. She could just as easily have been an HBO Original Series character.
But she’s not. She’s my cousin. And we’ve connected. I do not believe that could have happened without the honesty and openness of The Lunar Report.
It’s almost as if there is a real hunger for openness. A hunger for honesty. I think I am being human. Maybe there is just a hunger for being human. Maybe people are just tiring of working those tired old angles. The ones that allow ego to control us.
In life. In marriage. In business. So often, I think, our initial response to any sort of touchy situation is to figure out how we can lie our way out. Look our best. Stroke our egos just a tad.
“I mailed that check. You haven’t gotten yet?” instead of, “I have no money. I will do my best.”
“Honey, the traffic was terrible,” instead of, “Honey, I just wanted to stop off and have a drink with my pals.”
“The computer crashed!” instead of “I just couldn’t get it done.”
You understand. You’ve done it. Probably still do. Sometimes, not so often anymore, but sometimes I react the same way. Initially. None of us seem to want to admit to others or to ourselves that we are not as flawless as we feel we should be. So we naturally consider the lie instead.
People say to me quite often lately, “You write from your heart.” I cannot argue with that. I do. But what puzzles me is that folks say this with a sort of amazement. Like living, speaking or writing from one’s heart is a strange thing. The sad truth is, I guess, that it is out of the ordinary. But it shouldn’t be.
My life is so enriched by these new connections. It is enriched by the openness and honesty of those I encounter these days. It is enriched by old friends. By long time friends. By high school sweethearts. By cousins. And it’s only because I am being open and honest. I wish like hell I had learned this lesson when I was 23. But I treasure this new life.
The openness. The honesty. They come so easily now. I wish they always had. I am glad they do now.
“Looks like you're up against the journalist/columnist's dilemma: got to make the deadline so must write about the writing itself and/or create some news.”
Maybe he was right. Then. This time this is something I kind of have to write. The Lunar Report is quite possibly the best thing that has ever happened to me. Well – aside from my child, his family, my family and so on.... You guys know what I mean.
I don’t think any of you could argue that I have been anything but honest and open with The Lunar Report. It comes naturally these days. It feels right.
I never really intended this to be such a dissection of my life and feelings and thoughts. It just happened. I’m glad it did.
People respond. They respond in such open and honest and loving ways. The responses. They are so rewarding.
I have connected with old friends. Friends who share a desire to be honest with me about their lives. Friends who have actually done very well by their openness. Writing books and lecturing. Counseling others. Being human.
I’ve connected with long-time friends who say things like, “I never knew that about you.” I think they never knew because I spent so much time and energy hiding who I am. We all do that.
I have connected with my high school sweetheart. It was good to see her again.
I have connected with family. I have connected where I never thought connections were possible. I spent two hours last Friday with my first cousin from Atlanta. Until the Lunar Report, this cousin was just a family character. I know who she is. I know where she came from. I’ve always liked her. I just never knew her. She had always been the daughter of my aunt and uncle. A character that I see in a play that opens every couple of years. Then goes on hiatus for a couple more years. She could just as easily have been an HBO Original Series character.
But she’s not. She’s my cousin. And we’ve connected. I do not believe that could have happened without the honesty and openness of The Lunar Report.
It’s almost as if there is a real hunger for openness. A hunger for honesty. I think I am being human. Maybe there is just a hunger for being human. Maybe people are just tiring of working those tired old angles. The ones that allow ego to control us.
In life. In marriage. In business. So often, I think, our initial response to any sort of touchy situation is to figure out how we can lie our way out. Look our best. Stroke our egos just a tad.
“I mailed that check. You haven’t gotten yet?” instead of, “I have no money. I will do my best.”
“Honey, the traffic was terrible,” instead of, “Honey, I just wanted to stop off and have a drink with my pals.”
“The computer crashed!” instead of “I just couldn’t get it done.”
You understand. You’ve done it. Probably still do. Sometimes, not so often anymore, but sometimes I react the same way. Initially. None of us seem to want to admit to others or to ourselves that we are not as flawless as we feel we should be. So we naturally consider the lie instead.
People say to me quite often lately, “You write from your heart.” I cannot argue with that. I do. But what puzzles me is that folks say this with a sort of amazement. Like living, speaking or writing from one’s heart is a strange thing. The sad truth is, I guess, that it is out of the ordinary. But it shouldn’t be.
My life is so enriched by these new connections. It is enriched by the openness and honesty of those I encounter these days. It is enriched by old friends. By long time friends. By high school sweethearts. By cousins. And it’s only because I am being open and honest. I wish like hell I had learned this lesson when I was 23. But I treasure this new life.
The openness. The honesty. They come so easily now. I wish they always had. I am glad they do now.
Please visit the sites of some of my friends.
But in the end, music is ultimately an aural art, pure and simple.
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