In today’s #RandyTales, our hero comes to a crossroads… and isn’t sure if he is the devil in this story or not…
I love a good story. All storytellers should. Especially if that story doesn’t involve me. I am a collector of stories, weaving their narrative into my own. So the tale of Robert Johnson and his meeting at the crossroads is of particular interest.
If you don’t know it – Robert Johnson met the Devil at the crossroads and traded his immortal soul for the ability to play blues better than anyone else. And he was the greatest bluesman ever. Yeah, there are a lot of racist overtones to the story, but the basic concept goes back hundreds of years to Faust. Who wouldn’t want to make a deal that gives you power over the thing you desire?
I find myself at a different kind of crossroads with certain people in my life. People who once held a very, very different positions in my world. People who I loved without limits or, most importantly, boundaries. People who I elevated to levels that maybe they weren’t ready for, or hadn’t truly earned. People who have fallen in their own ways and by their own actions and deeds, because of that elevation. I don’t need to name names, and not sure I would even if I wanted to.
“Where do we go from here?”, I asked them in my mind. I’d ask in flesh, but they can’t or won’t respond. Their voices aren’t silenced, nor are their actions. They are CHOOSING not to participate in a dialogue. They are CHOOSING to take my kindness for weakness.
So – do I take the deal to advance myself without grasping the future consequences? Or do I make the deal that benefits me without thought to the others? Every other option available is a shade of gray, and this is not a grey kinda situation.
Actually, dear reader, I do have one more option. For you see, I am not just the narrator and character in this Tale. I am the author. I’m the little Okie who wrote the Bible – with apologies to Brother Cohen for butchering his lyrics. I’m muthafuckin’ God when it comes to my life – the all powerful know-it-all.
So I have removed some characters from the story. They have been removed on the socials. This is not done with malice or any negativity. I won’t lie and say it is done out of love either. This is done of necessity. I will not devote any more ANYTHING to these folks. My words, which have been spoken in love and have been used against me, will simply no longer be. I can not, nor would I, purge them from my life completely – but I also don’t need to be reminded of who they were to me.
THANK YOU, FUCK YOU, BYEEEEE!
And if you feel like you want to advocate on their behalf, please do. I would welcome a fresh perspective, or evidence of change. I WANT to give them another chance, but only if they want to ask for it. Only if they are willing to have the hard conversations long overdue and speak from a place of love and honesty. Only if THEY initiate the dialogue. Otherwise, they will remain a “un-person” in my life, both here and in the real world.
And that is a whole different devil no one has met.