Swashbuckler, the story:
Recently, while I was traveling on the California coast with some of my coaching colleagues and friends, I came across a tragically fake copy of a man that I used to be.
Actually, it was one the woman that I was traveling with, who noticed this individual in our midst, and reminded me that today, so many men want to be more than they can readily translate easily words (her exact quote: look, he’s playing past himself!), and therefore they use bluster and imagined bravado to display their intent and imaginary talents.
As a man, I am still unashamed to say that for more than a moment in my past, often I was openly referred to as that “eastern swashbuckler”, as in, you must have met him. At first, I thought of this as a semi-flattering term, and even was called upon to exemplify the ways in which the talents displayed themselves in business and social settings, for others in my circle thought it unusual that I developed this persona by accident.
So, needless to say, to look upon this man, and then hear a stranger to our group refer to him as a swashbuckling idiot, I was both angered and confused.What had happened to the notion that a man who possessed the ability to be both daredevil and explorer, fortune-hunter and globetrotter, hero and madcap, opportunist, and pioneer, rogue and romantic, soldier and speculator, traveler and venturer, was anything other than good friend?
How did become that such a man was now looked upon as a big talking blusterer. Or worse, someone working with purely his braggadocio, or just a plain bullshitting, egotist, whose’ know-it-all, peacock, show-offish ness and false swagger, identify him as a on who has no true talents?Did I look that way to others I wondered?
And yes, there were those parents, brothers and ex-boyfriends who often thought that I could not be as I appeared, for no man can care and kill using the same tools, yet, I did then, and unfortunately, still do now. Anyhoo, I am still coming back to myself after the brief coaching conference in San Francisco, but still, I am totally baffled by the fact that whenever I go out into cities these days, I am dismayed by the overwhelming lack of love and honesty.
Surely, it must be the fact that I am older now, but gee, what ever happened to the pursuit of craft and the dignity that came from being your own person (man)?
Are we truly as lost as that man?
Or am I just on the wrong Coast again?
About Me
- Edward Thomas
- More than just a Man, but also, a human being as well; Me, I'm just as often found @ the center of the struggle, but never as someones absent minded follower. True enough, I love my Mother, and though I'm eager to be perfect, I actually prefer to be nice, than have my own way! When asked, my closest friends would say that I am often in the company of the wind: The Wind(a dear friend of mine since birth) and I are often near and around you, and though, we're not always seen or felt near you, it's always better understood within you. Odd I know, but true nonetheless. True, not unlike the truth contained withing the thought of me flying would appear, but then again, when the wind wills, well, often I've awoken in strange places and had to patiently await his return, so as to get back home again. Luckily, he never lingers long, for it's hard enough explaining my discernment (of)to people. Imagine the after shock of a early morning phone call from Cleveland???
