Just be decent.

December 2, 2018
Journal Entry

I had an awesome night out on the town. I met some incredibly interesting people, got into some deep philosophical discussions about happiness versus peace of mind with two young men, one of whom looked like Jesus. It was simply a wonderful night filled with wonderful epiphanies and learnings and broadening of understanding and feelings of connectedness and love.

After the bar closed I went to Burger Boy, one of the only locally owned 24 hour burger joints in town, in fact probably the only one. I had a very long conversation with a wonderful trans woman my age.

I learn so much from people. They’re just living out their lives doing the best they can, putting one foot in front of the other. They bring such incredible richness to my existence. I only wish I could give them back all they give to me.

I am so blessed to be this woman in this body at this age in this town in this life walking this walk. My heart is just over flowing with love and joy right now at this moment. I am blessed beyond blessed. I thank God for the great honor of being alive in 2018 and being able to touch and be touched by the people I come into contact with in this crazy Louisville town.

And as I climbed into bed, I looked at the picture of my grandmother. My grandmother, who often would take a stand when she heard people speaking in a foreign language. She would literally go up to them and say, “You’re in the United States now, you need to speak English”. Of course the Asian folks she accosted with her message were very forgiving and very gracious. They actually tried to speak English with her on subsequent meetings. What gracious people they were to grant my 90-year-old grandmother such a courtesy.

I thought about what my grandmother might think about my having such a deep, intense, meaningful connection with the courageous and delightful trans woman at Burger Boy. The first thing that came to mind was my own voice saying, “It’s not hard to be kind to people if you make common decency your main goal. All it takes is common decency.”

And really that is what makes all of it work. If we can simply find things to value in one another, if we can simply choose, actively choose, to respect others, things work in concert. There is harmony.

So let us all make it our goal to connect with people in deliberately loving and kind ways. We all must to be nicer to one another if we want to effect positive change. Let us all rise to the occasion.

It’s not hard to be kind to people if you make common decency your main goal. All it takes is common decency.

Just be decent.