Random Bits of Gratitude 010913

Roadhouse Cafe Light
Pittsboro, NC January 2013

1. Men's Group
Somewhere in the mid-seventies a local church started two groups, one for men and one for women, where members could get together and just talk. Talk about whatever they wanted to or needed to. The men set two simple rules: (1) When someone is talking, everyone is to give that person their full attention. No one asks questions or offers advice to problems unless the speaker gives his permission. (2) Anything said is considered confidential.

The women's group had no such rule and only lasted six months. The men's group is still going to this day.

There are only about eight of us in this group. Some have been in the group since it started, others have joined over the years. (I've been in it for close to 10 years now, I think.) We meet once a month, usually at someone's house. We have dinner and talk about any and everything. Then we move into a more comfortable space and talk about whatever we need to or feel like talking about, one at a time, that night. Some speak for a long time, others for just a minute or two.

There is something special about being able to talk and be truly heard. It's rare in this life to have that sort of opportunity. The power of being listened to is quite wonderful.


2. Music
It could be that my love of music comes from a need to rebel against my mother's insistence upon listening to WGAY, The Beautiful Music station when I was growing up. Some Marketer decided "Beautiful Music" was a better selling phrase than "Muzak", which is all it was. You know that gawdawful doctor's office/elevator music from the Sixties and Seventies? Yeah, that's what I had to listen to IN MY HOUSE growing up.

When I finally got my own stereo I was soon given a pair of headphones to go along with it. My tastes ranged from folk to The Dead, to Bowie… All fueled by friends who likely saw how desperate I was for real music.

Today my tastes are fairly eclectic but tend to hinge upon acoustic instruments and strong vocals and songwriting. I play music constantly at werk and at home. (More gratitude on music will undoubtedly follow in the coming days and weeks.)


3. Books
The written word, collected, typeset, and printed and bound in folio pages have been a thing of great wonder for me. I was a slow-to-learn reader but once I got the hang of it, I made up for it. I was one of those geeky kids who would rather stay inside reading than go outside and play sports. (I didn't even like reading about sports, come to think of it.)

More on this topic later, as well. Suffice it to say I would still rather stay inside and read than go out and play sports.