Through The Innocence Of A Child

Yesterday at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom for Gay Days, I ran across a little boy that touched my heart.

As we were riding back to the parking lot last night on the Ferry Boat, this little boy was standing with his mother. He had some brightly colored rings on his arm and was enjoying them like there was no tomorrow. The little boy came up to me and showed me these rings and asked me to count them. I counted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 out loud and he turned around and said, "6, 7, 8, 9, 10."

He then went back to his mom and a few minutes later he came back over and talked to me more. At no time, did the little boy look up at me and see me as "different" or "abnormal" or any of the other things that so many in our society proclaim from their mouths. He just looked at me like any regular person that was safe enough for him to approach.

His innocence accepted someone else and didn't see them in the light that gets twisted through the teachings of our society. His innocence allowed him to just interact and get to know someone for a moment, treating them with respect while he received acceptance and respect back.

When we said goodbye and went our separate ways, I could not help but think that if older children and adults in our society learned more to accept each others as this boy did, how much more peaceful our world would be to live in.

This little boy had not been through all the trials of life that most of us go through and in many ways, while we as adults know so much, this child could teach us all something very valuable to our lives.

Please do not misunderstand the purpose here of this post. The point, I am trying to make is that we need to see others through the innocence of this child. We need to accept each other with love and respect, not judgment or fear or cultural beliefs.


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Blog Post & Images (c) 6/4/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

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Colors Of The Wind

I recently heard a song that I just love. It was from the Disney movie, Pocahontas. The song is "Colors Of The Wind". To me, I see it as a song of possibilities in life as if it is talking about all that can be and all that we can be part of. The signature line that just brings goose bumps to my arms is "can you paint with all the colors of the wind?".

So my question to everyone that reads this is, "Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?".

Take a moment and just read the following lyrics. There is power in the overall big picture of these words.

Lyrics to "Colors Of The Wind"
You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind