The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/37616
Keep up now! by Terry Ludwig Be open to accepting self ”I sit in judgment, not of others but of all mankind; of life itself, mine included. Every observation before me, as I lay in constant growing pain, echoes just how crippled humanity has become. ... Coming face to face with my own disillusions.” — Rob Ludwig Today, while driving through town, I noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of me depicting a stick figure of a man, a woman and a child. The caption read, “Marriage; one man, one woman.” Ugh … I uttered under my breath. Then I noticed a second bumper sticker “Family Life Radio.” It figures, I grumbled. I felt irritated with the person behind the wheel. I tried to get a glimpse of what they looked like. Shortly after, the car pulled off onto a side street. My mind cleared. Soon, I pictured a bumper sticker on the back of my car portraying a large rainbow flag with the caption, “Marriage Equality.” It made You will never feel persecuted if your accept your perfection and love yourself completely. me happy. Subsequently, I imagined a person riding behind me, and I projected their comparable irritation toward my bumper sticker. I surmised: We all have pre-conditioned experiences. We’ve been subjected to various forms of domestication. I felt justified in my thoughts, just as everyone else feels justified in theirs. My judgments against others are no more justified than their perceived judgments against me. It all comes down to self Love. You will never feel per- secuted if you accept your perfection and love yourself completely. I believe, wholeheartedly, in equal rights for all people. There exists many injustices presently in the world; however, there is a pragmatic means to attaining human and civil rights without judgment. No matter how hard you try, you will never feel loved or accepted until you first learn to Love yourself. Consequently, you will never learn to love yourself until you learn how to love everything and ev- eryone. Love is universal. You are Love. You are a creation of God, like himself, as love. Therefore, God is Love, further establishing that all of your brothers are God/Love. Together, we are all One/God/ Love. Once you accept your glory and your power and your true identity, which is Love/God, you will then experience power beyond belief. All of your experiences are based on your thoughts. Be only Love, and the world will change. Keep up Now! with the flow of higher con- sciousness, and stay connected to your Source. — Terry Ludwig Terry Ludwig’s brother, Rob, passed away in 2004 after battling AIDS. Before he passed, he shared his message. “Keep Up Now!” is the result of that communication. She can be reached at keepupnow@gmail.com, and fol- lowed on Twitter and Facebook. All Baby Boomers deserve options Associated Press file photo On Jan. 1, 2011, the very first Baby Boomers turned 65. Baby Boomers were people born between 1946 and 1964. Beginning in January, and ev- ery day since, 10,000 Baby Boomers will reach the age of 65. That is going to keep happening every day for the next 19 years. Take ten percent of that population, and you have the number of gay Baby Boomers who are about to change the profile of the GLBT community. One thousand gay Baby Boomers each day turn 65. In the straight population, senior citizen centers, retirement communities and social programs flourish. GLBT people may enter those programs and communities, but in the GLBT commu- nity we have almost none of that. Florida and the Southwest have reasonably priced retirement commu- nities, but almost none are gay owned or operated, and while we don’t want to be “ghetto-ized,” we don’t want to live and play in places where we are not welcome, or must remain invisible. If you “follow the money,” you can always see the social trends as they emerge. Entrepreneurs have figured out that the aging community is where the money resides. Guest Column are we going to have options, that reflect our lives and our choices, in housing, travel, leisure time and daily activities? Will we see communal senior living catering to us? Will gay vacations target the Baby Boomers instead of the 20-something buff bodies we see in ads? Will it be possible to age and be accepted as a part of the culture and community we embrace? If you are of a “certain age” and find yourself thinking about these issues, these websites might interest you. • www.gayretirementguide.com: This site gives all kinds of advice about retirement, places to live, finances. • www.sageusa.org: SAGE is the country’s largest and oldest organiza- tion dedicated to improving the lives of (LGBT) older adults. SAGE has pioneered programs and services for the aging LGBT com- munity, provided assistance for LGBT older people across the country, and provided a national voice on LGBT aging issues. Gay culture continues to place emphasis on youth, looks, style, and “attitude.” Hot bodies, washboard abs and good definition remain our currency. Now that we are out and recognized, are we going to find ourselves, as we age, having to retreat into the heterosexual population, and become invisible, or Richard Wiesenthal is a retired teacher who lives with his husband in Afton, where they raise and show horses. They have been together for 13 years and got married in Toronto in 2008. He has one daughter by a previous mar- riage and five grandkids. July 28, 2011 O-Town Scene 21 — Richard Wiesenthal the Diversity scene July 28-Aug. 3