OUT OF STEP

Good morning from Saturday morning here in Adelaide where the weather continues to be blissful and cool.   They sky is grey this morning and holds the promise of rain, but I doubt that we are going to get more than a light shower if anything at all.

Saturday mornings are lovely and generally quiet where I live and as I didn't have to shop today I have had the whole morning at home.   My neighbour is mowing his lawns and the comforting sounds of normality surround me.

I may have shared the image above before, but it is one of my favourites and takes me right back instantly to my early childhood days when my Mother cherished the thought that her daughter may become a ballerina - but the daughter had very different ideas.    

All the lovely little girls in pink would front up to the barre and go through their steps while I would be doing somersaults and hanging upside down.   I can still hear the teacher calling my name and see my Mother's distressed face.   I didn't want to do Ballet classes and I would hide and have to be dragged kicking and screaming to class on the bus, and we would arrive late because of that.   Yet she persisted and we would go through this regime every week and still I would swing on the barre.  (A distant cousin however in later years did audition for Sadler's Wells Ballet in London) but that wasn't me !

I wanted (and did eventually get) a pony and I wanted to walk through mud and ride with the wind in my hair - I certainly didn't want to wear a pink tutu and leotard.    The thought of jodphurs with chamois leather knee pads and soft leather boots and a dark blue hacking jacket and dark blue velvet riding cap brought squeals of delight from the upside down little girl.  That little girl would sleep with her cap on her pillow and her boots alongside her bed.

I knew then what I wanted and what was right for me and in many ways I have been "out of step" all my life and have held strong opinions on many many things and have always made those opinions known.

I have taken a stand many times for what I believe in - days of Vietnam Moratorium Marches in Adelaide would see me every Friday  lunchtime protesting against the war. I have written letters to Newspapers, Parliamentarians, and Governments all over the world and today is no different.

I am vocal and loud in my support of Marriage Equality and rejoice that many countries have changed their laws so that people of the same gender who love each other can be married.   Well done to those Countries and to the States in America that have changed their laws. 37 of the 50 States of America have changed their statutes.    I have cherished friends who have now been able to marry with all the security and acceptance it brings and I rejoice for them.  It is not Gay Rights it is Human Rights.

I stand proud and tall in my rejection of the death penalty anywhere in the world and am vocal in my stance against the putting to death of the two Australian men on death row at the moment - I stand against the death pentalty for the men from Brazil, the Phillipines, France and anywhere else.

I am a mother and my heart is sore for the Mothers of these two young men - I cannot imagine the pain they feel.

There are many other causes I stand tall and proud to support - I am against Female Genital Mutilation and most definitely stand beside those of us who need a little more help along the way because of a disability.

The world is a sadder place because Stella Young left us in December and is no longer here to shed her light and humour for her cause.   Vale Stella. 

Be proud of who you are and what you believe in and stand up for it.  Do it with dignity and pride and let your voice be heard - These are some of the lyrics of a song by an Australian Folk Singer Judy Small. 

" And I'm just one voice anyway, just one brick in the wall

One brick in the wall you may be, one voice in the crowd

But without you we are weaker and our song may not be heard

One drop in the ocean, but each drop will swell the tide

So be your one brick in the wall, be one voice in the crowd  "

Be that drop in the ocean, be that brick in the wall and let your voice be heard.

Thank you for visiting the Musings of My Heart - an active and proactive heart with very strong beliefs and very great care for my brothers and sisters in this world.

Love and hugs,