As I write this, I am sitting and watching PBS's tribute to Johnny Cash. Specificaly, the Johnny Cash Show from the late 60's. My dad as I recall told me about this show and how revolutionary and groundbreaking it was at the time. Cash of course was a rebel through and through. From where I sit today, it is amazing they gave him a show. He was against the Vietnam War vocally and used his show to promote that view. I heard "The Man in Black" for the first time in a decade at least. Now whatever you think about this guy, Johnny Cash is a man. I saw "Walk the Line" on the flight back from my missionary assignment. (True story: I had no idea they even shot the movie till I saw it on the flight...lol... Gotta love how in touch missionaries are....)
This all led me to something that I believe: You have to own who you are, where you come from, what you like, and what you don't. That doesn't mean that you need to be an @$$hole about your pov. Far from it. Hopefully, as ex JW's, most of us can relate to how stupid and dangerous that is. Yet, there is nothing wrong with doing your thing! I am sitting here right now reflecting on the fact that I have very eclectic tastes in music and philosophies in life. I know there is no one else like me. Period. And there are times I want to get bitter over opportunities that I missed, but I can also tell you that I have been forged through fire. I am sure that is true for all of us.....
So we have to own our pasts and the decisions we make in the future. We need to embrace what we like and not aplogize for it. If there is something that we disagree with, even on a fundamental level, we can still use our experience as JW's and realize that there are worse things that can happen then merely disagreeing with someone. We could censure a person. We could reject people and lifestyles we don't understand. That is worse.
So own it! Own yourself. Accept yourself. In the end, there is no other way to go....
Just the miscellanious ramblings of an appreciative ex JW.........