Thursday
12Nov2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 6:40AM "Thank ya'll for accepting me."
Last night, as Darius Rucker picked up his New Artist of the Year CMA award, he thanked the fans for accepting him. Also known as Hootie (as in "and the Blowfish), Darius had a lot stacked against him when he decided to make the leap to country.
Those five words - if our organizations, nonprofits, companies, stores, churches, support groups, book clubs, and neighborhoods can allow people to say them, then we're doing something right.
It's easy to shut people out. Just build a wall. Make a bunch of rules. Discriminate.
It's much more difficult to allow access and embrace others. It's risky. It makes us vulnerable.
And in the end, only one will make your life - and the lives of others - better.
Photo by BOBXNC
Reader Comments (1)
I'm amazed how so many people don't always grasp this. I'm an extremely shy, introverted and closed off person. I still work on trying to figure out what got me here, but I'm here nonetheless.
Pretty much the smoking gun is that I look at what society expects people to be and realize I am so not that person. I'm comfortable in my own skin, but the rejection of attempting to fit in only to find that organizations want you to be what THEY want instead of what you ARE is far too much. It seriously takes days of energy out of me to try to open up to people I don't know very well. DAYS! To only surround myself with those I know and trust makes for a very peaceful experience.
Yet at the same time the opportunities and experiences afforded us when we let people in...well...those are amazing.