Catch Jim Reed’s Red Clay diary on youtube: https://youtu.be/2SbFCQQtdgk
or read his transcript below:
Life, Actually
SMALL WISDOMS, HIDDEN COMFORTS, UNEXPECTED JOYS
A New Year in this Deep South Village is just another year, right?
Well, maybe it is not just another year. Maybe this year, this instant in time, is as special and unique as it can possibly be.
Calling this just another year is like calling a brand new double-scoop ice cream cone just another ice cream cone.
If all ice cream cones were that boring, wouldn’t I give up on them?
That’s the thing about living life in the Deep South or anyplace else on earth or in space—every day is the same, every day is special at the same time. It’s the promise of what good things can happen, if only…if only this day were better, if only the next ice cream cone were the best of the best.
I like the fact that, lurking within most people, there is fresh hope, there is abiding love, there is resident happiness.
I know, I know, the on-site heckler will quickly point out the terrors and fears and us-and-them-is’ms that get in the way of antiquated concepts like love and hope and happiness. The heckler will point this out as if I don’t already have this knowledge.
I do have this knowledge. But if I dwell on the idea that at any moment the ice cream cone will fall to the ground, the ice cream cone may melt, the ice cream cone might be swiped and carried away by ice cream cone hoarders or ice cream cone kidnappers…if I dwell on this, where lies my enjoyment?
If I show only my sour disposition and pessimism to you, would you look forward to hanging out with me? Sure, I harbor negative thoughts, but here’s the thing: If that’s all I show you, what good am I? What is my worth? What is my reason for being anywhere?
It’s the dream of that next ice cream cone, the reality of that next ice cream cone, that keeps the hopers among us going. I can be a heckler or a hoper. It’s my choice.
It’s the difference between a chocolate ice cream cone topped with sprinkles and a sauerkraut-filled cone topped with garlic.
You take your pick
© 2020 A.D. by Jim Reed