osodecanela | Words Meme

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!", and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your journal, and explain what they mean to you.

These came from

madknits

Compassion- this feels so central to my life, how I see the world, how I see people, and how I see my purpose in this world. To be honest, I don't know how I could function as a physician without my compassion. It leaves me open to hear, to feel, to understand the pain, the sadness, the discomfort of those around me. To understand that discomfort is the first step in the process of correcting it.

Gay- interesting. Not the first thing I think of, when I think of myself, but all in all pretty damn central to my being. I’ve walked both sides of the street and found relationships with women (both sexual and not) pretty satisfying; just not as satisfying as relations with men, however. When I met my husband, I was still dating both genders. Falling in love with him pretty much made up my mind for me. I have over time become much more political in my orientation. Equality is equality. I want it. It is my right to have it.

Judaism- I'm tempted to say something pithy like, "you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy." I was born into a very Jewish family. All four grandparents were right off the boat, my father's family Orthodox, my mom's people Conservative. My folks like their parents before them kept a kosher home. However, I think my parents were more secular than particularly religious. Unlike my father's father, who went to synagogue daily, my parents went to Temple on the high holy holidays, for weddings and bar mitzvahs, and rarely at any other time. However for them, and I guess for me as well, being Jewish was as much an ethnicity as a faith.

Bears- this could open the major can of worms. Bear is how I identify myself, and it means a whole bunch of different things. It's natural, without being forced. I am a gay man, but I don't have to shoehorn myself into someone else's image of what a gay man is. I don't have to have a 29 inch waist, a shaved chest, spend endless hours at the gym, or dress in either leather, skintight Levis 501s, or drag in order to be queer. I can simply be who I am.

For me it also means fur. I am attracted by fur. A furry face makes me smile. I furry chest will turn my head. A well furred butt, can make my mouth water. I often become incensed by societal pressures to shave off a beard, and frankly a man who has shaved his chest (or worse, down below) confuses me. I find nothing remotely stimulating about a plucked chicken. The Gillette website which now waxes rhapsodically about the glories of body shaving for men pissed me off big time.

Years ago I read the book "Fat Is a Feminist Issue". At its core the book rages at the oppression of women who are trying to fit themselves into a body image that is not necessarily natural, in order to fit some stereotype of what society believes is an attractive female form. For me, to try and transform into a clone would be no different.

Joy- that you associate joy with me pleases me no end! There is much in this world that is just not right, and I can dwell on that, but there is so much more that is wonderful, beautiful, and awe inspiring. Take time to look for beauty. Stop and smell the roses. Look at the colors of the world. Sit for five minutes and savor your coffee or tea and let their flavors register on your tongue. Be in the moment and appreciate it for all it is and can be.