Tag Archives: social interactions

faith, news-commentary, optimism, point of view

The remedy

2 Comments

A few weeks ago, I decided to check out the new Zac Brown Band album online. One song on the album made me hit repeat. Then repeat again. Then repeat again. Then go buy the album just so I could have this song with me absolutely any time and anywhere I go.

“Remedy”
(Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette, Niko Moon, Kevin R Moore)

I’ve been looking for a sound
That makes my heart sing
Been looking for a melody
That makes the church bells ring
Not looking for the fame
Or the fortune it might bring
In love, in music, in life

Jesus preached the golden rule
Buddha taught it too
Gandhi said eye for an eye
Makes the whole world go blind
With a little understanding
We can break these chains that we’ve been handed
I’ve got the medication
Love is the remedy

Pray to be stronger and wiser
Know you get what you give
Love one another
Amen, amen

I’ve been thinking about the mark
That I’ll be leaving
Been looking for a truth
I can believe in
I got everything I need
Let this heart be my guide
In love, in music, in life

I’m not saying I’m a wise man
Heaven knows there’s much that I’m still finding
Making my way down this winding road
Holding on to what I love
Yeah, and leaving the rest behind
For love, for music, for life

Pray to be stronger and wiser
Know you get what you give
Love one another

We’re all in this world together
Life’s a gift that we have to treasure
Happiness, now that is the measure
Love is the remedy

Everyone can be forgiven
One love and one religion
Open up your heart and listen
Love is the remedy

Pray to be stronger and wiser
And know you get what you give
God is love one another
Amen, amen, amen

IMG_20150627_145621
Image created using Photofy App

This last week I’ve purposely kept quiet about all the many social issues going on, and I will continue to do so here. Why? Because I don’t feel like I need to input any opinion on something I don’t feel knowledgeable enough about to back up said opinion in a social realm. So, I do the whole, “Better to keep quiet and thought an idiot than to open your mouth and prove it.”

Here’s what I DO know, though. I know that my heart has ached a lot this week, because on every single side of every single issue I’ve seen intolerance and anger. I’ve quietly felt attacked reading other’s words, even when I’ve agreed with them.  I’ve quietly felt bullied in a world of, “Either you agree with me or are against me!” even when I’ve agreed silently.

Frankly, as we fight a world of hate, we’ve come to fight it with hate. And that’s most certainly NOT the answer.

I said from the beginning of the year that my motto for 2015 is, “So much love.” Love makes me happy. Love makes the world a better place. LOVE IS THE REMEDY.

God knows I can be cynical and quite snarky at times. I live in Nashville and have ties into the music industry. Consider cynacism and snark a negative side effect of this life. But I challenge everyone this weekend to step back. Hold that snark back for a second. And choose love instead. God said to love your enemies. You don’t have to love what someone does. You don’t have to love what someone says. You don’t even have to love what they stand for. But take a moment and realize everyone deserves love. And God knows that right now we need love in general more than ever.

Dear friends, let us love one another,
for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves
has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7 NIV

friends, road widows

The people in your life

1 Comment

rich in friendsIn college, I took a lot of Sociology classes. It wasn’t that I was interested in the field of study in the least bit. In fact, I generally hated the classes with a passion. Too much reading. It was boring. And it was just not something I wanted to study.

But. They fit in my schedule and filled a needed credit. So I took them. A lot of them. I was probably only a course or two away from a solid minor in the subject. I was so disinterested in the subject, though, that I never even bothered to check for sure or try to get that qualification on my diploma.

Fast forward 11 years, and I’ve found myself fascinated with human social interactions. I’m fascinated by how people gravitate to each other and how they interact with one another. I’m fascinated with, you guessed it, sociology. With a solid dash of psychology. Perhaps its a “side effect” of being a bartender. After all, I’m doctor, therapist and baby sitter to many patrons week in and week out. (Heavy emphasis on baby sitter. How on Earth do so many people lose their phones!?)

But outside of that, I’m fascinated with my OWN social interactions. I often sit back and think about my friends and how diverse they are. I can pinpoint at least seven “groups” of friends, each one different due to how they fit each nuance of my personality and life. I can’t imagine not having any one of them in my life.

They’ve all shaped me and taught me things about the world as well as about myself. Sometimes friends are the best mirror you could ever hope to have.

IMG_20141006_205622Take just last night, for example. We had a Road Widows meet up in East Nashville. We met at No. 308, and awesome little bar that I didn’t even know existed.

Two-thirds of the group were women I’ve come to consider friends, as we’ve all attended multiple meet-ups over the last year or so. The others were “new-to-the-group” but they fit right in like they’d been there all along. I left feeling like I’d made two more friends in the few hours we sat and had drinks. “Find me on Facebook” was bantered across the table as we gathered our purses and paid our tabs.

The best part of the night, though? It was spent with people who GET the weird and crazy life of being married to someone on the road, because they, too, live it. We could go, “I love my husband, but man am I glad he’s on the road for a few weeks so I can get a lot of work done!” And we all understood, laughing and nodding along. We all shared stories candidly, knowing we could be honest without being judged. It was… amazing.

The people in your life inevitably make a huge impact on you. I feel like I’ve surrounded myself with amazing, positive forces in this world. Not just the women of Road Widows, but alumni of my university, musicians, fellow bartenders, old friends that never leave my heart and side, and the angels of CASA, just to name a few.

I feel like I can face anything, thanks to these people. And you know… that faith and confidence and LOVE that surrounds me is worth more than a million dollars in the bank.