FreeJonny1
For
Justice
To deny people their human rights is to challenge
their very humanity. Nelson Mandela
their very humanity. Nelson Mandela
Looking up through the steel grating as the grey sky releases its contents, drenching me while nourishing the earth; water the nectar of life. Natures Wine. How often I took moments like this for granted. Growing up, it never crossed my mind there would come a time when I wouldn't be able to enjoy nature in its extremes, beauty or glory. The woods were my playground growing up, a boundless supply of bad guys, forts and adventures for a young child. My only limit was what my imagination could create. The lake across the street was my summer retreat. Hours spent in the serious work of discovery and play. How many poor gardener snakes, crawdads or salamanders were whisked out of their environment, my temporary captives, until my mean ol' parents made me return them to their homes. The five gallon bucket, that was my observation tank, rarely remained empty as I learned and became familiar with my world. The days of my youth were spent alone, for the most part, for the majority of my peers lived a good distance away. Yet I can't recall one moment of feeling lonely. I was content sharing my company with the squawking crows and chattering squirrels who thrived and enjoyed the woods with me.
There seems to always be one moment growing up that impacts who and what you are to become, for me that was moving from my childhood home of Pagosa Springs to the small city of Colorado Springs. Never before had I lived in a place where I was not allowed to go wherever I wanted because there were "creeps" and "bad guys". I had to learn that strangers were not to be trusted, a culture shock for the rural raised kid. School was a whole other story. I was now the outsider, the country boy lost in the city, but luckily I was gifted in the art of school yard brawls and wrestling matches. Not afraid to use the cowardly, but effective, sucker punch or go for the soft spots. The solar plexus or whatever extreme was necessary to get it over with. I established myself as a tough kid. My grades plummented as I became lost in a far advanced school curriculum. Slowly I drifted farther away from caring about school, concerning myself with skateboarding, music and friends. I was a naive, foolish young man upon entering high school. I turned away from education as useless. The divorce of my parents impacted me in a huge way. It came at the age when I was ready to explore the world, ready for adventure and without the presence of a parent to oversee me, I roamed. The emotionally unstable, confused young man left to his own devises, will reach to find an outlet or help for his pain. Why is it the evils of this world (drugs, gangs, crime) are made far more readily available than the healthy, productive and above all legal? Parents you must find an interest for and of your child's, expand upon it, create a challenge, allow success or failure, give the kid aspirations and a sense of worth. Our schools teach us to create so much "affordable housing technology" and affordable luxuries like television and radio but why is it we are not creating greater individuals? Our society has no virtues or morals, nothing is sacred. People thrill us on TV by exposing how they have cheated and ruined other peoples lives. We are captivated to watch people worse off than us, telling ourselves "Well I'm not that bad, shallow or hollow." But giving a voice to such disparity, help it become normal, isn't that "bad, shallow and hollow" in itself? Jonny
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