Walls and Bridges

Walls and Bridges

Don't be a wall
Stop acting tall
Be a bridge
Over the abyss

In the twilight of his life, he was striving for honesty and dignity, not necessarily out of a necessity of gaining respect from others, but to secure a respect from deep within himself for himself because he was painfully aware that a life without self-respect was not much of a life at all, not if he wanted to demonstrate that he was genuinely human, and not a dog or a pig in disguise. So when he expressed himself, he tried not to have forced expressions, non sequiturs, artificialities, and riddling obscurities. He tried to produce sentences that rang true, not false and hollow, since he realized that besides his deeds, his words told the world who he really was. He knew, like everything else, the world of words was split between the real and the phony.

He could be phony like most everybody else, but that would be too easy. Like the other day, a woman expressed an interest in him. He told her that he was not an usual guy like those she met in the past. How unusual, tell me, she challenged him. To start, I tend to say it as it is. I talk about myself, a lot, in fact, all the time. I don't buy gifts and presents and I don't expect any. I am not that interested in sex either. I am a boring guy. I don't party. I don't drink nor smoke. I just talk, eat, sleep, try to make some money, read, and talk some more. She protested, I don't get it. Why do you devalue yourself? I think you are funny and highly interesting. I want to get to know you. You do? Yes, I do. I want to smash through the wall you erected around yourself; I want to be a bridge to connect your abyss and mine.

  Wissai
  Nov. 23, 2010