My writing feels like Kid Rock songs. He uses ALL kinds of music, sings from his heart and talks about himself a lot! I quote or paraphrase spiritual texts, bumper stickers, Romcoms and wisdom from recovery meetings and I talk about myself a lot!
Note: If you ever talk to me be aware; Your words may end up here in some form or another. When I hear someone else quoting me, I think “Wow, I said that? Are you sure it was me? That’s just mean (or wise or silly or flat wrong)!”. Maybe putting my words on digital paper, where others can point out what I said in the past, is a really bad idea.
But no, I want to grow. I want to expand my boundaries and get uncomfortable and do new things. How do you think Mr. Rock felt when he released a Country Album? And some people had NO trouble pointing out the wrongness to him…WTF are you thinking?!?!? If I am not changing my thoughts and views on life as I add new experiences, then I am approaching it with a closed mind. Not that I need to constantly change my mind, but if I never refine my opinions then I am not paying attention and learning NEW things. I am only seeing the world as it conforms to my expectations and rejecting anything that does not fit. That probably works well for lawyers arguing court cases but not so much for seekers living in the world.
Back to Kid Rock. I was in a record store (many years ago when such places existed in the physical world) and a woman picked up his album, Devil Without a Cause, and said “I love the song Only God Knows Why. I wonder if there are more like it here. I could give it to my Grandson.” I have owned 2 copies of that CD. I LOVE IT! The raw gritty aggressive cynical confused angry autobiographical lyrics encourage me to feel many different things. I do not think the woman in the record store wanted raw, gritty, aggressive, confused or angry. She wanted a CD for her grandson that helped him hold steady when he didn’t have answers, that God has a reason for everything even if we don’t see it. I mentioned the many different types of music on that CD alone and suggested she buy it with an open mind or find a different CD.
My aunt gave my cousin an Alice Cooper album, Billion Dollar Babies, for Christmas back in the 1970’s. Her thoughts: Alice sounds like a nice woman, better than the other “Stuff” my cousin plays. Boy, was she in for a SHOCK!
I am grateful that I can embrace my Fist of Rage rage as much as my Only God Knows Why confusion with some tongue in cheek Cowboy raunchy thrown in for humor. And I’m grateful there are many ways to express these feelings because we all have them. Kid Rock just has a wonderfully different way to articulate. Thank you!