True, unadulterated, flowing, salty grown man tears. These are the phenomena that unashamedly poured down my face as I watched the bromance of Captain Kirk and Commander Spock in Star Trek: Into Darkness--a film, which if you haven't seen, is by far one of the greatest adaptions of the franchise to date. There I sat, with my wife on one side, and my BestBro on the other. Only two of us were sobbing uncontrollably as {SPOILER ALERT} Spock and Kirk deliver their final declarations of friendship through irradiated glass and tear-filled eyes. I'll let you decide which two of us left the theatre with moist faces.
But amidst all the gorgeous special effects, sinister villains (Good Gravy, Mr. Cumberbatch is incredible), and the valiant dedication of the U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew, I was left with a somewhat different thought when exiting the 2-hr. sci-fi masterpiece:
What would it be like to get phasered?
An odd question, perhaps, but an intriguing one nonetheless. We've been lead to believe by earlier Trek installments that a phaser on STUN feels something like a light tasing or roundhouse kick to the kidneys. But I'm talking about full-on Vaporize Mode. Which got me thinking of what might get left behind once an individual's been mercilessly phasered into the hereafter. Jewelry? Teeth? Borg implants? Who's to say? So I decided to let my imagination run wild for a bit (hard to believe, I know) and worked out a scenario of what I'd like that CSI: Miami guy to say (and find) once he found the remains of my dearly departed incinerated self.
In some of the earliest posts of this blog, we talked of the importance of ensuring your jewelry has a purpose. That the history and story behind your accoutrements strikes the difference between the Man of Mystery and the Man Who Frequents the Cash Register at American Eagle. If I were to answer the door later this evening to an incineration, the one piece of jewelry that would sure to be left behind for Horatio Caine besides my wedding band and orphan bracelet, would most definitely be my Ethiopian Birr necklace.
Why am I constantly wearing a piece of Ethiopian currency, you ask? Well you see last year my wife and I took a trip with an incredible team of American and Canadians to the beautiful African country to help with several humanitarian projects around the capital city of Addis Ababa. While there, I punched a forever notch on my Man Card when I successfully fed and rocked an infant orphan girl to sleep in an orphanage near the city.
That moment, changed my life. And while my wife and I had talked for some time about building our family through international adoption, that afternoon kicked my heart into overdrive. We officially began the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia at the beginning of February this year, and while the wait is still excruciatingly long, I can't wait to be a father. The necklace I wear everyday helps to remind me of that. That no matter how horrible a day at work may go, I dream that my life's purpose will be far greater than I can ever hope to comprehend. It reminds me of our own little piece of Ethiopia that we hope to soon bring home to a forever family.
So what would I have the CSI guys say about my vaporized remains? Simply that my heart was elsewhere--on a continent an ocean away, and fixated upon the hope of being part of something greater in the life of just one little girl in her time of greatest need.
Let your style reflect your passions and dreams in life. Whether you've just been phasered by Khan (pronounced: KHAAAAAAAAN!) or you're just walking down the street, you never know what message you might be sending simply by the details in your daily swagger. In the end, however, all that really matters is that Horatio says something cool about your phasering before the opening credits, like say....
"Well, I guess that's one way to PHASE him out." (press PLAY below now)
Blessings,
LOVE it. And miss you both. A reunion is seriously needed.
ReplyDelete