Shifts

I, as much as anyone else, can get caught up with the way things appear right now. Life isn't exactly the way we want it, so everything's in the shitter, right? Truth be told, I've felt like things are really moving in the right direction, whether its in world in general or in my own life. Sometimes its hard to see that because some of the big things we focus on seem fixed while underneath the surface is where the shifting and changing occurs.

Case in point, a couple of days ago, the LA Times ran an article about gay high school and college athletes coming out and being willing to live their lives in the open. Certainly these young men and women face challenges -- the article mentions a high school football player who was ostracized after he came out and ended up changing schools -- and yet by daring to be themselves at a formative time for themselves and those around them, they are sowing the seeds for fundamental change.

We tend to get stuck on the questions of marriage vs. civil unions and DOMA, Don't Ask Don't Tell and ENDA, the real progress is happening beneath the surface every day with people having the courage to live their lives in the open. Perhaps the changes we seek aren't happening as quickly as we might like but they're happening and no legislative act, ballot initiative or court ruling will be able to stop them. Sometimes its hard to keep that in mind but all you need to do to remind yourself is take a moment and look beneath the surface.