Moments — people are strange...

This has come about simply because I watched a documentary on The Doors last night and I really like their music — the melodic poetry that captured a generation and echoes still to this day.

I have always been mesmerized by the song People are Strange; getting lost in the rhythm but never actually listening the words until now. It strikes me that this song is a haunting anthem for acceptance, inclusion and progress by simply identifying why it is to be strange — 

                                         People are strange when you're a stranger
                                         Faces look ugly when you're alone
                                         Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
                                         Streets are uneven when you're down

                                         When you're strange
                                         Faces come out of the rain
                                         When you're strange
                                         No one remembers your name
                                         When you're strange
                                         When you're strange
                                         When you're strange

                                                            — Morrison / Krieger

People are strange when you're a stranger speaks to the problem and perceptions of being a stranger, and although I'm exercising some artistic licence here, I feel it reinforces the need to stay connected, put yourself out there, embrace what is new, and what is different — get to know people and let them get to know you. No one seems strange when there is acceptance, inclusion, and understanding. It is in the haunting melody that this song is a warning of what to expect when you stay a stranger.

And with that, I will say my name is Graham Paul Edwards, I'm almost fifty-eight years old (with the heart of a thirty something), I continue to search for my place in the universe, I work hard, and will forever be true to my family and friends — oh, and I'm a Capricorn. And although I'm really not into astrology I can't help but think of this...

                                     And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
                                    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
                                    Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.                          

                                                                                — Shakespeare

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