The One in Which I Think We Should All "Get a Life!"

It's interesting. I've been thinking about this blog post for a long time. And avoided it. My heart is beating faster now as I get close to posting it. And then I think to myself, what kind of world do we live in where I'm more afraid of speaking my opinions than having brain cancer? So, I'm speaking my truth. The consequences can't be worse than having brain cancer, right?

When I was a freshman or sophomore in high school, I took a class called Ancient Civilizations with Mr. Burns. I have such a vivid memory of the first day of that class which I shared with a H.S. friend recently  - and she had it, too, so it must have been his First Day Tradition, And as a teacher, I appreciate First Day Traditions. Here was his:

He entered the room dramatically, grabbed a piece of chalk from the tray and wrote in letters 3 ft tall across the whole board: "FREEDOM VS. SECURITY".  He then proceeded to tell us that everything we were going to learn about these civilizations - characteristics of any civilization  - were related to the people's decisions about how they balanced these two very important principles.

I loved Mr. Burns' class - he made me think and helped inspire me to give a shit about what was going on in the world. In fact, one could blame him for my quasi-arrest (underage so supposedly expunged?) for painting "U.S. Out of El Salvador" on the high school wall in weather-beater paint...in 3 ft tall letters<--coincidence, or something more?  That's really not fair to Mr. Burns, is it? I really have to shift the blame to my co-conspirators, Pam H. and Mette!

Okay, I can't blame him for that, but he is definitely the reason I knew about El Salvador . And he, no doubt, contributed to my decision to attend college in Washington, D.C. and ultimately get my B.A. in International Politics.

I've never shared my political or religious beliefs with my students. Maybe it's because I taught in elementary school. I've always thought children, until they get out in the world, either 1) believe everything their parents believe or 2) believe the opposite of what their parents believe, just to piss them off.  One kid in Mr. Burns' class screamed, red-faced, at me, saying, "So, you think all Americans should become Commie Pinkos like you!?!" Seriously. "Commie Pinko".  Okay, I was going to school in the late 70's, early 80's, so I'm guessing he learned the term "commie pinko" from his parents. And his extremely harsh reaction was in response to my questioning whether it was fair that so few people could have so much in this country while others struggled without adequate housing, food, etc. Not exactly a radical concept, is it? Or maybe it is. People still argue about it to this day.

But I'm not in a classroom anymore, and I am going to let 'er rip this morning. If that offends you...#sorrynotsorry Sue me. I'll probably die before the suit goes to trial. And guess what! In America, we have this thing called FREEDOM OF SPEECH, and that trumps your "I'M OFFENDED THAT YOU DON'T BELIEVE THE SAME THINGS I DO." gut reaction. I love America, in all it's imperfect glory. And the U.S. Constitution - which was always intended to be living document. (If you don't know what a living document is...I HOPE you're not a Supreme Court Justice, but at any rate, there's always the internet to help you out, right?)

If you don't want to engage in a civilized dialogue about my life-long principles [Hint: I was called a "commie pinko" once in high school] , feel free to just shut this window right now and go on with your life. Doesn't that feel good? Having the freedom to do that? Or if you want to know more about what rolls around in my cancery brain, feel free to keep reading. Warning: I'm feeling fiesty!

The Basic Principle:
I believe that people should have the freedom to do what they want to do in life as long as it is not hurting or endangering other people (security - Thank you, Mr. Burns!). I know there are a lot of issues that are a lot more complicated for this philosophy to really work. But it works on a lot of levels. And I'm "going there" - like I never would on Facebook. In my personal opinion, I believe that Facebook should be a happy place, like Disneyland with cat videos and pretty photographs, and "liking" a bunch of stuff!

A Few Examples of Freedoms that I Don't Believe Hurt You:
People should be allowed to practice their religion where ever or whenever they like. It's none of your fucking business. Unless they plop themselves down in the middle of the street and endanger themselves or other people. I was in the park with my daughters and granddaughter the other day, and as the sun set, three Muslim women descended onto their knees to pray. It makes me sick that there are people in this country that would think that they had ANY right to limit these women's right to do that. Now, if you're a pedophile that has religious beliefs that include having multiple wives that are underage...refer to the previous paragraph. Hurting other people? Yes! No bueno.

People of the same gender should be allowed to marry.  This one enrages me - and don't tell me it's because I have close family members that are gay. I've ALWAYS felt this way. How can you say a loving, committed couple of any gender has ANY impact on your own marriage? You should not get to have ANY say on what they do. It's not impacting your freedoms in anyway whatsoever. It's about LOVE, people. LOVE IS LOVE! Again, if it's not hurting you, Shut the Fuck Up and worry about yourself. Rawwwwr!!! <---That deserves a roar for extra emphasis!

First Same Sex Couple married in NYC  (together for 23 years before)

Another no brainer (no pun intended): Marijuana should be legalized. Period. But let's just start with medical marijuana. Do you know that Colorado has found marijuana to be extremely effective at treating seizures? I asked the neurologist at UCSF about it. (Because I take 6 pills a day - 4 of them very heavy duty anti-seizure meds.) He said they were starting a clinical trial for pediatrics but weren't planning on a trial for adults. You know why? It's "too sticky a political issue". Again, how is the fact that an adult is smoking weed harming or endangering you??? I call bullshit. Yes, we have medical marijuana in CA, but without real clinical trials, we don't have a medical community who can prescribe the right amount or the right strand to get maximum help.

Now, let's just talk about recreational use of marijuana. How is it any different than all you out there, enjoying wine, bourbon, or beer to have a little "buzz" going on? How is it hurting you? I bet you there is much more danger involved in criminalizing marijuana than having it be legal. In fact, I know there are statistics out there about more danger in drinking than smoking. Not mumbo-jumbo statistics. Real science.

I know that I'm not going to change anyone's minds about these issues by writing this. I know that most people have pretty much closed their minds to other ways of looking at things by the time they're ...what?  sixteen? It's a shame, really. But probably true.

Some of you may stop reading my blog because I dared to disagree with your philosophies. political, or religious beliefs. And that's a shame, too.

Blame it on the chemo drugs...or the 100th fucking meme about the Starbucks cups that I've seen on Facebook. I couldn't keep quiet anymore. The fact that the holiday cups or lack of holiday cups at Starbucks offends you in some way. I've got some news for you:

It's not Brain Cancer! Or any of the other diseases or tragic, unexpected events that rob us of a loved one forever.  It's not any of the things that really matter.


GET A LIFE! And treasure it instead of wasting time judging others about stupid things.
Yes, I said, "stupid things". 

Without knowing me, so many of you have reached out and sent me love and encouragement and prayers and support.. and that's everything. If this makes you change your mind about me and whether you support me and my healing and my recovery, I think maybe you need to do some serious soul-searching. But that's just my opinion. And everyone has a right to their own opinion, right?

P.S. I created this blog originally as a forum to talk about living with cancer (and trying to survive).One thing that's come out of it is that I'm realizing that living with a terminal disease gives you a certain freedom to be truly yourself. It's a shame that it had to come to such extremes to realize that. This obviously isn't my whole "truth", and none of what I've written before today is untrue. So, why was I so afraid to post it? I'm not sure, but that's why I finally did it. <deep breath as I hit "publish">

Fear is Fake. Live Now. LIVE YOU NOW.

P.P.S. I've decided that I was supposed to born with blue hair. Bright blue hair.

P.P.P.S. I've always preferred Peets. Starbucks tastes too over-roasted and bitter. In my humble opinion. But that's probably because I'm a commie pinko....