Thoughts on Living Out Loud

Each lunchtime at work, I walk a two-mile route to the nearest Starbucks and back (my reward for walking). Today, in the 90 degree heat, I saw an earnest young gentleman sitting outside alone at a table. He had a large rectangular birthday cake cut into pieces in front of him, none of them eaten. Two pieces of cake, and two glasses of water, were carefully placed on the table.

I asked inside if there was a birthday party going on. "Oh, he's been waiting for someone," they informed me. It looked like he'd been waiting quite a while. I suddenly felt a deep sadness for him. As I passed him again, I wished him "Happy birthday!" and he thanked me for it (but didn't offer me any cake :)

As I walked away, my sadness switched to admiration for someone willing to put his heart on the line, take chances, and be alive! Do you know people who are wholeheartedly themselves, seldom compromise, and are one-of-a-kind? The frequently annoying and sometimes interesting people who don't care what you think, and whom you either have to accept 100% or not at all? The cirque du soleil living among us? I know several folk like this, and think of them fondly as "living out loud".

Lisa hates this expression. "Sounds like psycho-babble," she says. I love it.

What would it be like to be fully myself, and not a dim reflection of what others want me to be? Would I walk down the streets singing in the nude? Would I be arrested? Would I lobby for a clothing-optional jail? Would I stand (clothed) in front of congress, a wife on each arm, asking them to either make polygamy legal or fornication illegal (as an early LDS legislator suggested)?

I'd like to think I'd be expansive, humorous, distinct, and larger than life. If I dared.

A question for you, fearless reader -- If someone ever did a movie about you, what would your character be like, and what would you do in the movie?