Introduction: Beneath the Wraps

          I had once heard a story of a racist who was sent to a burn center for her condition.  Life had dealt her a bum deal.  She was in constant pain. She was bitter. And she made it no secret about how she felt.  She quickly gained a reputation in the burn center because of her ill mannered behavior.

          All the patients wore bandages – some more than others...  They were all burn victims.  None was able to escape his or her circumstances due to race, religion, or possession of money. They all had to be treated.

In time this women was befriended by another patient who was certainly in far worse shape than she – he looked like a mummy as he appeared to be covered with bandages from head to toe.  And yet he had such a great outlook on life.  He taught her how to cope, to listen, and to live.  She enjoyed their visits together and would look forward to the next time they would talk. She had developed a love for her new friend. Perhaps she saw him as a father figure.

          After a few months the man’s bandages were removed. It wasn’t until then that the woman realized that the man was a different race than she.  She was confused.  All of her life she had been taught to hate, or fear, or resist or whatever – for whatever reason.  And yet this man had been so kind to her.  He had taught her.  He had been her friend.  Would she really give all that up just because she was a racist?

So often we refuse to listen to the thoughts or ideas of another because his or her beliefs are not the same as our own.  So often we place judgments upon appearance.  So often we assume that an individual is represented by his or her entire race or even a name and therefore must possess certain character trait. 

          A name? Really?  Have we become such a petty society that we would actually treat another differently based upon his or her name? How many people choose their names?  Honestly?  Oh, there’re a small handful that have their names legally changed for whatever reason – but most everybody I know did not pick out the name he or she was given – either first or last.

          Nicknames are different.  They are earned playfully or maliciously based upon one character trait or a piece of personality – but nicknames still do not define a person’s entire being.  And being related to an individual might account for some personality attributes – but being related does not take away from one’s individualism.

I often enjoy reading the introduction to different Blogs – why the title of the Blog is so named and how it relates to the Blogger.  My Blogger name comes from the story that I just shared. At this point I don’t want just anybody looking at it.  I don’t want to invite the entire public – but I don’t necessarily want to make it a secret either. 

 My brother has an anonymous blog.  It’s quite profound and well written.  There is actually a large handful of people who are aware of his real identity. A neighbor had read some of his posts and had asked my mom, “Does Corey have a Blog?”  Not that my mom was the right person to question – as she didn’t even know what a Blog was.  Mom is the one who told me about Corey’s Blog – which in turn introduced me into the Blogging world.

I notice the Blogs that I seem to enjoy most have started out as a therapeutic method for the Blogger – at least in Corey’s case it did. After a couple of years he came to terms that made him feel that he didn’t need to Blog anymore – but he gained many followers in the meantime who weren’t anxious about seeing Corey take flight.  He’s part of a support group.  They need to read his words.  I need to read them.  He is so good at explaining things and has such an awesome gift with words, it would be a shame to all of us if the Blog were to go away.

I am not near as gifted with words – though I have had many people advice me to start my own blog because “I could really help people”. I suppose that each of us is titled to his or her own opinion. Perhaps some posts may be profound – others may not have meaning – just opinions.  My opinion.  And some will be written for my own therapeutic needs. So there you go. 

I don’t have permission from anybody to use his or her real name in my Blog – though I don’t guess many of them would care either way.  It’s not that I’m trying to keep my Blog a secret.  In actuality I would like to be discovered.  But I want to introduce myself and my subjects subtly – and there may be some who will figure me out and many more that will never know even when and if my identity is revealed.

I actually have a rather common name – too common.  But for the sake of my Blog I will be known as LaTiesha Cannon – no particular reason.  I just like the sound. My husband is Roland and our daughter is Jenna.  All other associations will be introduced as I go.  Have fun with it or ignore it completely. But please be respectful.  Thanks.