{"id":8704,"date":"2018-05-09T07:17:12","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T11:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=8704"},"modified":"2018-05-09T07:17:12","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T11:17:12","slug":"this-is-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=8704","title":{"rendered":"this is me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes the most profound moments come from the simplest conversations. I go back to one Friday night, a few years back, when I stopped in to see a friend tending bar at a casual hangout.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We sat and talked for a few hours\u2026 always good\u2026 at the end of this day, the end of the week. There was a TV nearby. On it appeared yet another celebrity getting attention for a personal choice \u2014 and as oft consistent with our not-so-united society, the attention was prominent, but not necessarily prominently positive. All sorts of people possessing all sorts of perspectives felt welcome chiming in on his choice.<\/p>\n

So as one who truly wishes to welcome and consider all perspective \u2014 and no doubt, I, too, am a work in progress \u2014 I asked my dear, articulate, especially frank friend, Bobby, his thoughts.<\/p>\n

Simpler than I imagined, Bobby looked at me, paused from his professional routine, and merely said, not really to me, \u201cYou know, I think you need to be the best you \u2014 and I need to be the best me.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

He was not speaking to \u201cme,\u201d of course. He was identifying how each of us looks at other people \u2014 and why we each feel welcome to generously weigh in with our perspectives, varied as they may be\u2026 condoning or condemning, also as they may be.<\/p>\n

We look at other people\u2026<\/p>\n

And when they are different from us, we justify the condemnation\u2026<\/p>\n

Maybe we criticize and condemn because they look<\/i> differently.<\/p>\n

Maybe we criticize and condemn because they act<\/i> differently.<\/p>\n

Or maybe we\u2019re ok with how one looks or acts, but we criticize and condemn because they think<\/i> differently.<\/p>\n

One of my recent (but still all time)<\/i> favorite movies is \u201cThe Greatest Showman,\u201d released last winter starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Ephron, Michelle Williams, and Zendaya (\u2026 it\u2019s ok if you didn\u2019t like it; for this former show choir parent, \u201cthis is me\u201d\u2026).<\/i><\/p>\n

Within exists an iconic song, nominated for an Academy Award\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Is Me.\u201d<\/i> It\u2019s great for multiple reasons\u2026<\/p>\n

For some, as dubbed by Variety Magazine,<\/i> it is \u201can anthem for outcasts.\u201d Led by the Bearded Lady \u2014 after being shunned by the show\u2019s visionary (Jackman) <\/i>\u2014 the cast of human \u201coddities\u201d finds their voice and their pride, marching through the streets, refusing to feel as something lesser.<\/p>\n

Described by song co-writer Justin Paul, \u201cShe (the Bearded Lady) <\/i>then finds her own sense of power and pride. It\u2019s the moment where they realize, \u2018We are who we are, and we\u2019re going to own our own identity.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Note she is owning who she is\u2026 comparing herself to no one else\u2026 being the \u201cbest me,\u201d subject to the judgment of no other.<\/p>\n

Says the song:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 When the sharpest words wanna cut me down<\/i><\/p>\n

I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out<\/i><\/p>\n

I am brave, I am bruised<\/i><\/p>\n

I am who I’m meant to be, this is me<\/i><\/p>\n

Look out ’cause here I come<\/i><\/p>\n

And I’m marching on to the beat I drum<\/i><\/p>\n

I’m not scared to be seen<\/i><\/p>\n

I make no apologies, this is me.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Yes, there are areas in which each of us is foolish \u2014 each of us needs to grow \u2014 all of us. God is no doubt, not finished with us yet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But sometimes the growth would be faster if we could grow in absence of judgment from anyone else.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes the most profound moments come from the simplest conversations. I go back to one Friday night, a few years back, when I stopped in to see a friend tending bar at a casual hangout.\u00a0 We sat and talked for a few hours\u2026 always good\u2026 at the end of this day, the end of the … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “this is me”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8704"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8707,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8704\/revisions\/8707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}