By Kevin Alan Lamb
My name is Kevin. I am 29, white, 6’7, former collegiate athlete, dreamer, lover and hopeful romantic. For most of my life my friends and even family didn’t think I was making anything of myself; for most of my life my father told me to get a haircut and get a job; for most of my life the people that love me most wished I’d stop giving myself to ideas and causes that didn’t return the certain promise of money. It’s a difficult thing to believe in yourself and your dreams: it’s even more difficult when the ones you love insist that you’re wasting your time, talents, and passion on things that they’re certain will condemn you. Despite the lack of support from the places I would have loved it the most, I endured. I continued to pursue my passion and with the help of the music that inspired me, I decided to make it my life. It was rarely easy but always worth it. I believe it is a tragedy that artists and other creatives receive so little support in their pursuit of their love, passion, and ultimate choice to make their “vocation their vacation”, Mark Twain.
Our biggest shortcoming as a species is our inability to commit: to ourselves, to our passion, and to the ones we love. For too long we have been letting one another and ourselves down and it’s not acceptable. I have made the decision to concern myself with the well-being of our species, the well-being of our planet, and it’s how I plan to spend my time while here on this earth. It’s not always easy but I’m working on letting go of my ego, my desire to be with a woman I love, and fulfill my benevolent duty as a citizen of a world community. For years I was laughed at for carrying my Good Sign with me everywhere I went; for years I was underestimated and judged for a vision that was burned upon my retina, and impossible to surrender. The world will shame you at every moment’s opportunity, carry on anyway; your friends and family will scrutinize you for believing in something bigger than yourself and them, believe anyway; struggle will plague and attempt to define you, love anyway!
These days it’s difficult for me to write without tears in my eyes. I am a pretty happy person but I feel the weight of the world melting as I strike my fingers to these keys. With Nahko and Medicine for the People playing in my headphones, I am gifted all the courage I need to proceed from line to line. I don’t write as often as I should but I’m working on it. I am living my philosophy, passion, and writing my story with my choices and actions. My roommate is the most beautiful woman I know. She is tall, she is kind, she cares, she helps the desperate, she is Bosnian, she was forced to flee from her country because of genocide, she loves the music that I do, she loves the beer that I do, she loves the people that I do, she loves those worth loving, and she is gay. If you have a problem with the way another loves, I have a problem with you. If you believe that anyone endures a life of scrutiny, hardship, and abuse by choice, you’re an idiot! If you have ever been misunderstood to the point that it made your soul ache, I ask you to reconsider your stance on a matter that doesn’t affect you, yet you affect it. Our neglect and purposeful hate is contributing to the abuse of spectacular human beings that have done nothing but love to receive it. It took us a long time and the help of a great man, Abe Lincoln to abolish slavery, yet we’re still readily willing to enslave gay men and women with our close-minds and bigotry. Open your heart and open your mind and you will discover love and all of its possibilities. Gift another the blessing of belief and acceptance and you will discover yourself and your potential. I believe that you can be better but I cannot walk by your side to always remind you. I believe that you can grow but my belief is irrelevant without your own. Let us stand up for our fellow humans and support them the way we wished the ones we love had once supported us; let us evolve and reflect the image of the person we wish to project to our children; let us surrender our hate and misconceptions of the way love ought to look. We can be so much better and it’s time we start acting like it. Goodness will change your life if you open your heart and feel it. Light will infect and inspire you once your eyes are open and willing to see it. It is time to heal the individual and the masses; it is time to show up for the ones we love, and may one day love. I am not asking you to walk alone, but to walk with me. Let us take one baby step at a time towards a mutual beneficial awakening; let us advance your position despite struggle and scrutiny; help us shape a world we wished we lived and loved in.
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@ShaggyLamb
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