THE RECYCLED PIRATE

I love us, but we need to have a talk…

Patriotism, religion, politics and ideologies. Lands, churches, schools and neighborhoods. Do you like those borders? Do you like their limitations?They all make or force us to choose sides.  Pick a part. To step across a line to “define” who we are. Where and what we are. Left or right. We let boundaries define our memories. We cast stones and yell, who and which is better. I was wrong too. I’ve taken sides and played my part. But lately I stepped aside and watched from afar. I came to a conclusion and now we need to have this talk!

I am none.  I am all. I am alone. And we, we are together. 

I will NOT be placed in a box, nor will I be contained by (your) boundaries. I’ve fought for my life to be free. To be standing and to be walking again. I raised my standards higher than any standard ever put up for me. And I raise them even higher to help the ones that can’t raise theirs by themselves. I am the ruler of my faith and only I can achieve where I set the standard of my dreams.

I train, study and work harder than ever. I do more, share more and give more than I ever could before. Not because I have to. Nor because I’ve been asked to. I have less than I ever had, yet I am the wealthiest I’ve ever been. I have no more obligations to live other than the choice:

DO I WANT TO BE THE BEST ME I CAN BE?

OR DO I WANT TO BE THE BEST YOU WANT TO SEE?

I can’t use your eyes, so I can’t see what you see. I can’t feel what you feel. I’m not you and I don’t wish to be. I have no saying in what you perceive. However, I have the clear choice to show you who I can be. And I am for real.

Hi. I am Andy. I am human(e).

I have made terrible mistakes. I have broken hearts. I have lost lust for life.

I have been a poet, DJ, Salsa dancer, bartender, store manager and youth worker. I’m a business owner, an artist, and a warrior. I have failed the ones that put trust in me and I have helped people who have lost trust in themselves and in life, rise.

I have travelled and I’ve build a home. I lost it all. I will never be perfect and I sure won’t try to seem so. Thank you for your time, your love and your patience.

I appreciate you for who you let me be.

My apologies for what I’ve done wrong. I’ll take credit for what I’ve done right. I am here on this planet to create a better world. Not for me. Not for a political party or my supposedly religious beliefs. I don’t care for your color, your sexual preferences nor your upbringing. I see your sex and embrace, or leave it, as I choose.

I took the obligation to fight as a knight and rebel like a Pirate, both warriors for their cause. I don’t divide. I unite. I don’t listen to Ghandi, Bob Marley or Nelson Mandela. I live them.

If you talk about unity, you need to accept the right to be different!

I respect you for you.

Hello human. I love you. I love me, but our love, means more. So I’m letting go of all our limitation…

Music of choice: Florence and The Machine – You’ve Got the Love

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you

Sometimes I feel like saying, “Lord, I just don’t care”
But you’ve got the love I need to see me through

Sometimes it seems the going is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now and then I feel like life is just too much
But you’ve got the love I need to see me through