Ale for the Soul

A friend once told me, "A person can change while not growing as a person.  However, a person can not grow as an individual without changing."  Neither situation is comfortable, but growth and change is a must if I desire true change and forward progression as a person.  Of course people can change for the worse, but growth implies positive, upward mobility in every realm of an individual: mentally, emotionally, and intellectually.  (This is not an exhaustive list.  Other areas may include the social arena and etc.)  As I wind down my tenure as a resident of Fort Worth, I must let go of comfort and routine in order to move on to the next stage of my life.  In addition, I recently learned my maternal grandmother's house is up for sale.  As a semi-full time college student, I do not have financially gainful employment in order to afford such a house appraised at $240,000.  As I see the passing of the torch from one generation to another, t...

This is the last of my wonderful Spring Break vacation.  After four glorious days visiting friends and family in Austin, and three days camping in Buescher State Park with a friend from Houston, I feel as if I am grounded as an individual again.  The time away detaching myself from what the rest of the world calls life or living, did wonders to re-evaluate what is meaningful to me.  In our technologically advanced day and age, I observe others and catch myself clinging to my phone, computer, and internet connection in the event I might miss something.  In reality, what I am missing is the simpler way of life.  Nature has a way of reorienting me to true living, a lesson back to the basics of what is the true substance of life.  True life, as I see it, is lived from the inside out, instead of external behaviors working their way inward.  In the end, I find a person's core character and beliefs are prostituted for what the world dictates a person should b...

Last Saturday, while at work, I met a phenomenal woman.  After conversing for roughly thirty minutes, I knew this woman had substance, intelligence, and other qualities I look for in an individual.  A considerable amount of time (years) has passed since I have made any type of real friendship with someone from the opposite sex.  Granted, finding women of substance and real depth is difficult, but I find cultivating and maintaining a friendship with one incredibly challenging.  I believe the reason for this is the tremendous influence society has on men and women as they move about differing social circles.  This influence may be what society considers proper gender roles, who the new "liberated" woman looks like, the false idea men only want "one thing," and so much more.  Sometimes people say exactly what they mean without anything hidden "between the lines" to be read.  In short, if a man says he only wants a friendship with a woman, why not tak...

Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays During the Fall semester of 2013, I ran across this quote while taking an American Literature course.  These words struck like a thunderbolt!  Few things in life have such an impact.  "To be great is to be misunderstood."  Hmm...!  As I struggle to make sense of this stage play called life and the other actors involved, I push to the forefront the realization I have always known somewhat subconsciously.  And that is, I am greatly misunderstood: my thoughts, behaviors, actions, and overall demeanor.  The familial shaping of my formative years, the tumultuous adolescent years, and my experiences post-high school, work and social, have built upon one another to...