Homeless Mustards

I wrote a poem the other day called “Can’t Do Without” and it made both of my sisters concerned for me. They thought it was an unhappy poem from a sad man and granted I write a lot of poems like that or that seem to be like that but really the poem was about my realizing that maybe instead of trying so hard to get back what I used to have that maybe I should stop using that as a gauge of who I am. That I’m not what I do or how much I make or if people like what I write… I’m just me. I’m just another person, same as everyone who is just surviving and trying to figure out who they are and what they should be doing. I don’t need to find myself by getting my old life back. I can do without.

While writing the poem I also stumbled upon this fellow called “Homeless Mustard” (Daniel Mustard) who is a man who had been homeless or possibly still is homeless. He came up in a YouTube search I did, trying to pair a good song to my poem. When he’s singing you can feel all of that heart and soul that is inside him. After he finishes singing, no doubt many people see him differently and maybe even remark to him about what a great gift he has. Some of them were probably in awe of his talent, some maybe were impressed with his spirit. But he was different to them once he showed something different than what they had expected out of him. I had to wonder what they or I or anyone would think of him if they just saw him on the street asking for change or in a drunken stupor?

It’s sad that we all make these quick judgments on some folks because all of us are so layered and varied and much more alike than we are different. Yet we seem to like to divide and label and categorize people into groups; mainly those worth our attention and those who are not. We dismiss people we don’t even know because they seem different than we are or they seem "odd" or "mean" or they just look funny. We blame people for a difficult situation when we don’t have a clue as to how they got to where they are. There is that saying that we shouldn’t judge a person until we’ve walked in their shoes and that probably sums up what the Homeless Mustards of the world live with daily - being judged by people who have never walked in their shoes.

But really, most of us tend to judge ourselves harshly as well. We make standards that we have to live up to even though the basis of being a human is that we are weak and we fuck up all the time. The tragedy is when we don’t learn from those mistakes. When we continue to judge others harshly for stuff we ourselves have done in the past or very well may do in the future. It’s a slippery slope that is best to stay clear of. So my main advice on this hub is to give yourself a break and to judge yourself for the person you are – base it on how many smiles you give out more than how many dollars you take in. Give yourself some charity and at the same time… extend that to a few other people. Especially the people you don’t even know, yet you’ve judged them anyway. Rethink that. Most people are good people. I truly believe that.  So should you.  Ignore the exceptions for the rule.