What's Your Occupation?

Blooming Mimosa Hold the Champagne
Colleyville, TX

 It's not uncommon for folks meeting for the first time to inquire, "so what do you do for a living?" Besides all the hats I wear on any given day, my list includes: husband, grandfather, financial advisor, friend, counselor, minister, and photographer. If you were to ask what defines me, I would reply, I think.

Although thinking is not a vocation, I would say that for me it is. I process all of the information that I am receiving through all of my senses and I absorb the details. They affect me. Sometimes good and sometime I'm anxious and troubled. In fact, I am troubled by that folks who should know better and were raised in religious homes like me are not bothered to either speak up or do something. In fact, they are reluctant to stand up for me and my rights.

Female Cardinal at Day Spa
Colleyville, TX

As a creative person working in a financial capacity, I notice details, trends, and history. Then I process this information and prepare a baseline strategy in real time. Details are the catalyst to form my strategy and subsequent reactions. At my age, I depend on my experience and judgment to guide me. I've seen this before. I know how to react. I have a voice.

It's time to wake up and think and process all that is happening around us. There's a beautiful world out there and it requires our participation. Many things are happening some good and some quite depressing. You have to be willing to open up your eyes and your senses to fully appreciate what exactly is going on. 

Some folks are ok with accepting things as they are and to let others take on the responsibility. They are voyeurs. I choose to think independently and as free as the birds I photograph or the nature, I experience. We live here. We live now. We must be awake and listen to our conscience. This is my vocation, thinker. I hope I can encourage others to THINK. Think about what you are doing to me (Aretha), think about what you are doing to others, think about your neighbor, think about our future, our environment. Think about that "reconstruction" still even after the Civil War taken hold in some parts of our country, it's not so grand for women, people of color, and the handicapped. Think about how we are impacting the people who have the most financial insecurity. Think about what we are doing to provide tax cuts for the wealthiest at the expense of those who have the least. All of this at whose expense? Think about the American Dream. Tell me what it looks like for you, your children, and grandchildren. Look in the mirror and tell me who you are and are your proud of yourself.

Nature tells me life will go on. And Jesus said to behold nature. So I think...If I'm lucky, perhaps, I've done the same for you. So today, I think. We can change. It's a thinking choice. It's a decision.