Excursion Into New Areas...

Last night, I had the opportunity to see my friend, Random Cathy, tell her story of being "In the Doghouse".  Oral Fixation is the name of the series where people write true stories about themselves, then tell those tales to an audience.

Last month, I remember when Cathy told me about going to see the show and how moved she was.  She was also fired up to do her own and suggested that we do it together.  The upcoming theme was "In the Doghouse."  The subject could be taken quite literally, where those talked about adopting a dog.  Or metaphorically speaking, such as, getting into trouble and the experience.

The piece I wrote and submitted did not pass the first cut.  I figured it probably would not because I wrote about the various dogs in my life.  You see - not just one dog affected and changed my life, but all of them changed me.  With each animal that came into my life, I tried to learn how to be a better person - how not to think only of myself.

I was and still am okay with not having made the cut.  After I submitted my entry, I thought about how cool it would be to do this with Cathy.  Then, I started watching the presentations on YouTube.  

Wow...

Powerful performances...

Then, I realized - I may have to expose part of myself that I am not ready to share with the entire world.  "What ifs" kept hitting me - What if I offended someone close to me or was confronted with someone else's view on a situation?  However, my story was more about the dogs and not myself.  THAT was why I did not make the cut and I knew it.

Random Cathy's performance was amazing - as I told her it would be.  Hell - everyone that told a story touched me.  The stories about adopting dogs made me think of Bo and how I ended up with him.  I totally got the internet dating aspect when finding a dog on the internet, but when I saw Bo, I knew I had to try to adopt him.  My mom was not comfortable about my adopting a dog because deep down, she wanted me to have Chloe.  Problem - I did not have a house with a fenced-in yard and doggie door, so I could not have Chloe.

In the end, I got Chloe because my mother trusted me with her over anyone else.  She knew I loved Chloe and would do what was best.

The gentleman who got into hot water over simply not thinking about his wife's needs was hilarious.  I felt for him, but in the end, his life returned to normal as he learned a valuable lesson.  The storyteller describing how he got into trouble over a friend and his kind of comedy humor was hilarious.  I remember my mother allowing me to listen to Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, George Carlin, and others when I was 12 years old.  She was not really fond of the swearing, but humor was humor and when it was funny, we all needed a good laugh.  Probably why I wore out the Justin Wilson album we had when I was young girl.  Clean Cajun comedy.

In the middle of all of the lighthearted reflections, a brutal story of how selfishness and chasing the wrong things in life landed this man to be kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  It was truly an amazing story of how he hit rock bottom and turned his life around once his family rescued him.  I met this gentleman and his wife after the show - what an amazing couple and person.

Lastly, the one story that truly had me rolling - bagels and yogurt.  A lesson regarding bullying with a religious slant.  The bottom line - it really had nothing to do with religion, but just the stupidity of how an older adult's opinion influenced poor behavior in students.  It was funny, yet poignant.

After the show, Random Cathy asked me if I would still submit a story.  I have one written for the upcoming show, but I am not so sure if it is the right direction to take.  Sitting here, I have thought of another way to go with the tale.  I have between now and Monday to get something written or rewritten.  Let you know what I do...