Ebb and Flow
Tonight, I'm sitting here watching the World Series. Although the Red Sox stand poised to maybe end it tonight in only 5 games, there has been a fair amount of back and forth. Especially that third game. A long time ago, I think during another World Series, the Dominican pitcher Joaquin Andujar was quoted as saying, "There is one word in America that says it all, and that word is, 'You never know.'". I think that's about right.
Life is full of ebb and flow. I don't know about you, but I honestly never realized which word meant what. Ebb is the receding of water away from the shore, while flow is the opposite, of course. Could easily be the other way around, in my mind. If I wasn't crazy, I'd go insane, too.
The reason this term and its meaning is on my mind is really in reference to a few friends that have experienced this in terms of their feminine journeys as of late. They say the Good Lord giveth, and He taketh away. The reasons why, we don't know. We just know it happens. To all of us. All the time.
Like the notion of momentum in a baseball game, which some people will argue doesn't exist, we often feel like just when we start to get ahead, something happens to knock us back down a peg. One peg, if we're lucky. With some luck, you get two steps ahead and one step back, not the other way around. Extra flow, please, but take it easy on the ebb. Don't ebb on me, bro.
It reminds me of an old country song that often feels like my life. Part of the lyrics go like this:
"Seems everytime I make my mark
Somebody paints the wall"
- From "Somebody Paints The Wall", written by Tommy Smith, Charles Browder, Elroy Kahanek, and Nelson Larkin
Listen to Tracy Lawrence's version here. It's one of those songs where, if you play it backwards, you get your dog back, get out of prison, etc. LOL. It's also oh so true a lot of the time. In the past especially, I have often felt like the poor guy in this song. Right now, I might be keeping pace or treading water. Maybe not falling further behind, but not exactly getting ahead either.
In the world of crossdressing/transgenderism, one with which I'm familiar, one area where this comes into play is with acceptance. Especially for many of us with a spouse, it seems sometimes we get a glimmer of acceptance where maybe it's ok to be who we are, only to have it yanked away from us. This can be particularly difficult. Many other things in life can be the same way, of course, however I hope that for most people, acceptance isn't given and taken away like that.
One good friend has had some of that this week. She's been chugging down the road towards transition recently, and that's an exciting thing. As I have seen with others, the spouse puts on a brave face and is supportive, at least on the surface. Only to have it become difficult for them, as of course it would. Spouses tend to get left behind when somebody transitions. Which isn't fair to them. Life isn't fair at all, and the person transitioning doesn't have it easy to be living the incorrect gender and then trying to go against the grain to change it. One side should do their best to keep the other in mind. In the end, maybe it keeps people together, maybe it doesn't. At least acknowledging the other person can't hurt.
On a much larger scale, the ebb and flow of acceptance is again up for debate in the minds of government. It seems some believe that maybe transgender isn't really a thing at all, and may some rights that were gained by trans people weren't deserved. I have a huge problem with this. We all deserve to be recognized. Please don't recognize someone, anyone, then turn around and pretend they don't exist. Trans people in America are saying we #wontbeerased. There is genuine fear over this. It sure feels scary to me, and I'm not even on hormones or have had surgery, anything like that. I feel very badly for those that have succeeded in finding their truth, achieving their truth, and now feel like that's potentially being taken away from them. Gosh, I hope it's all overblown and never comes to pass.
To those feeling the ebb....hang in there. Grab onto something solid. The flow always returns. To those in the flow, enjoy it. You might get your wall painted, but take heart if that happens. Just remember, "every little thing's gonna be alright".
Life is full of ebb and flow. I don't know about you, but I honestly never realized which word meant what. Ebb is the receding of water away from the shore, while flow is the opposite, of course. Could easily be the other way around, in my mind. If I wasn't crazy, I'd go insane, too.
The reason this term and its meaning is on my mind is really in reference to a few friends that have experienced this in terms of their feminine journeys as of late. They say the Good Lord giveth, and He taketh away. The reasons why, we don't know. We just know it happens. To all of us. All the time.
Like the notion of momentum in a baseball game, which some people will argue doesn't exist, we often feel like just when we start to get ahead, something happens to knock us back down a peg. One peg, if we're lucky. With some luck, you get two steps ahead and one step back, not the other way around. Extra flow, please, but take it easy on the ebb. Don't ebb on me, bro.
It reminds me of an old country song that often feels like my life. Part of the lyrics go like this:
"Seems everytime I make my mark
Somebody paints the wall"
- From "Somebody Paints The Wall", written by Tommy Smith, Charles Browder, Elroy Kahanek, and Nelson Larkin
Listen to Tracy Lawrence's version here. It's one of those songs where, if you play it backwards, you get your dog back, get out of prison, etc. LOL. It's also oh so true a lot of the time. In the past especially, I have often felt like the poor guy in this song. Right now, I might be keeping pace or treading water. Maybe not falling further behind, but not exactly getting ahead either.
In the world of crossdressing/transgenderism, one with which I'm familiar, one area where this comes into play is with acceptance. Especially for many of us with a spouse, it seems sometimes we get a glimmer of acceptance where maybe it's ok to be who we are, only to have it yanked away from us. This can be particularly difficult. Many other things in life can be the same way, of course, however I hope that for most people, acceptance isn't given and taken away like that.
One good friend has had some of that this week. She's been chugging down the road towards transition recently, and that's an exciting thing. As I have seen with others, the spouse puts on a brave face and is supportive, at least on the surface. Only to have it become difficult for them, as of course it would. Spouses tend to get left behind when somebody transitions. Which isn't fair to them. Life isn't fair at all, and the person transitioning doesn't have it easy to be living the incorrect gender and then trying to go against the grain to change it. One side should do their best to keep the other in mind. In the end, maybe it keeps people together, maybe it doesn't. At least acknowledging the other person can't hurt.
On a much larger scale, the ebb and flow of acceptance is again up for debate in the minds of government. It seems some believe that maybe transgender isn't really a thing at all, and may some rights that were gained by trans people weren't deserved. I have a huge problem with this. We all deserve to be recognized. Please don't recognize someone, anyone, then turn around and pretend they don't exist. Trans people in America are saying we #wontbeerased. There is genuine fear over this. It sure feels scary to me, and I'm not even on hormones or have had surgery, anything like that. I feel very badly for those that have succeeded in finding their truth, achieving their truth, and now feel like that's potentially being taken away from them. Gosh, I hope it's all overblown and never comes to pass.
To those feeling the ebb....hang in there. Grab onto something solid. The flow always returns. To those in the flow, enjoy it. You might get your wall painted, but take heart if that happens. Just remember, "every little thing's gonna be alright".
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