Somebody, Somewhere
by Comicality
I know that there are a lot of people who have read this section, and a lot who haven't...but this was a small idea that began to completely snowball once I started writing it out. It was more important to me and the visitors of this site than I had given it credit for. I suppose that's why it was pounding in my head for so long before I put it out there.
The idea actually came from a music video, "Right Now", by Van Halen, believe it or not. It was just something that caught me right away and a year or so later, when the Shack was created, the idea started to haunt me again. Starting out as just a few ideas that I never thought would be longer than 10 or 20 'what if?' type questions, I kinda dismissed the whole things as something that I could put off until later. But it stayed with me, and it kept building, and building...for months. I even began to see new ideas and examples in the street everytime I left the house, of what I wanted people to see and to realize about life in general. So, after a lot of thought, I figured I'd jot down a few ideas, maybe add them to one of the stories and be done with it. At least it'd be out where people could see it. So I got a wrinkled up envelope that was obviously going to be trashed, and scribbled out a few of my ideas on the back of it. It was dirty and crumpled up and my pen was hardly working, hehehehe....it looked TERRIBLE! But once I got my thoughts together enough to remember what I was thinking about all those times before, and actually started to write them down, they just began to flow like water right out of me and onto the paper. More and more and more...it just kept going. I thought about it all day, and kept adding more ideas to it, and it got to be pretty big. So I decided to type them all out so I could save them somewhere. And that brought out even MORE ideas, reflecting what I was doing online, and what people were discussing with me in emails, and what effect the stories were having on some people. So the section grew to the point where I KNEW that I wanted it to be right there on the front page of the site for people to read, to interpret, and to think about. I think it worked out nicely.
The whole idea behind the "Somebody, Somewhere" section was to inspire the kind of thoughts that we may all have from time to time...but never really dwell on them long enough to make them 'real'. It always seemed so easy to say that homelessness does exist, and yet never really understand what it would be like to be in that particular position. It always seemed so easy to say that 'nobody loves me', than it is to wonder if someone is looking at me the way I'm looking at someone else. It's always easy to call somebody names than it is to try to understand the reasons behind what it is they do. So this section is just a series of examples (a LOOOONG series, that has been added to time and time again since 1999) that allows people to maybe experience a moment of understanding that they can relate to. It's about things we remember from our own lives, and that other people are just now experiencing for the first time. It's about taking a moment to realize that there are people out there who are living through the terrible things that we see on tv and in the movies. People who may be a little bit worse off than we are, and don't get to 'live'...they just 'survive'. It's also a humorous look at how our perspective changes over time about what we want in life and who we are. It can also be a chance for us all to take a look at ourselves and think, 'is this particular phrase describing me? Is this how it looks to other people?' All of those things collected into one section, mixed in with some random thoughts and feelings of my own, made for an enjoyable read for a lot of people.
I usually only add a few each day, or maybe once every few weeks, and then make an update when the number of additions reach 50 to 100 new entries. And there's always a mix in the content, things to laugh about, things to contemplate more deeply, and things to tug at your heart strings. Whether it's love, or sex, or abuse, or a crush, or pride, or maybe a self realization that you might not want to indulge in...it's all in there. There have been times when I've been stubborn or big headed or scared and made a mistake that I've regretted a lot...that can be a part of the list. There are times when I think about a single moment of time that I've experienced in my life, and I KNOW that there are teenagers out there going through the same thing right now. So I might want to let them know that I understand....that can be a part of the list. There are times when I am complaining about something I wish I had or wish I was, with what feels like a total disrespect for the people out there in horrid situations who can only DREAM that they could have what I have. I think it's important to take some self inventory once in a while, even when you're feeling down, and just appreciate what you have in your life...that can be a part of the list. There also may be times when I'm living through a certain situation at that very moment, and may want to get my feelings out about what I wish people could know about me, or what I wish I could know about them. I translate those ideas into situations that anyone and everyone can relate to. There are times when I want people to open their eyes to something that happens everyday, and they ignore it without even knowing it. There are times when I want to inspire people to not wait another minute and not to let someone elses faults get to them, to motivate them to stand tall and move forward. There may be times when I want everyone to know that love was ALWAYS possible, it is possible now, and it will be possible for the rest of your life. Even when you're heartbroken, even when you feel trapped, even if you're the most pessimistic, doubtful, lonely, and antisocial person in the WORLD...there are people falling in love every single day, and you can be one of them. All of these ideas are what I wanted people to find in the "Somebody, Somewhere" section.
Over the years, MANY people have laughed, cried, and stared off into space, because of the way this particular list has affected them. These are the things that I think about all the time, in every situation. It's what I use in my attempt to keep myself balanced in life. (Lousy attempts, but attempts just the same! Hehehe!) It's what I wanted to communicate to the people reading the site, and also to myself in those times when I forget the important things. That I'm not just somebody writing porn, and I'm not some ghost with the answers to all of life's questions, and I'm not a politician, or a priest. I'm a person, flesh and blood, like the rest of you. And so is that person sitting next to you on the bus, and so is the love of your life, and so is your boss at work, and so is the mayor of your town, and so are the homeless people we pass in the street and pretend not to see. It's my way of saying that no matter how much we want to separate ourselves from the 'other kind', whoever that may be in your particular part of the world, things look different when we put ourselves in their position.
I guess I'm just a firm believer of us all being connected in some way. And the things that make us different come from our experiences. Experiences that we can share with one another and use to be better people. Um...ok...now I'm getting preachy and dumb! Hehehe! Strike that last part from the record. :)
SO...if you ever get a chance, stop on by and read the list. Take each one to heart. Take a moment and think about what they mean. Let it sink in. Realize that it's ACTUALLY happening to someone RIGHT NOW, at this particular point in time. So try to understand why I wrote it, and what it means to a lot of people who see themselves in the words etched into that little piece of the web. Even if it's not your personal experience, you can believe that it belongs to somebody.......somewhere.
This page was last updated on February 11, 2016.