I hear the phrase "stick in the mud" echo in my head nearly every time I voice a criticism or observation or dislike of something. While I truly fear being known as the stick in the mud I also know that sometimes I am the stick in the mud. In my defense, I just can't let go of certain things that I so desire for the people of the world. Even when that desire bucks up against the status quo. And yet, who wants to be around an opinionated, irritating, critical woman with a chip on her shoulder? Not me. And I am with her all the time. Sometimes I just wish she would shut up.

But I will say she causes me to think. She causes me to think beyond myself and to how others are affected and suffering by being mocked or abused by status quo way of thinking. Why do we tolerate the belittling, hurtful words and behaviors often prominantly expressed all around us, but then are intolerate of the sticks in the mud who speak out to rise above?

Where did this belittling identifier "stick in the mud" come from, anyway? I decided to check that out. Here's what I found: An unpleasant contaminate (stick) in the potter's clay that ruins the finished product. Hmmm ... interesting. How about we sic "stick in the mud" on the status qou??!! How about we call Anthony Jeselnik's vulgar and mean spirited comedy stick in the mud? How about Seth's Oscar comment on the assassination of one of the strongest leaders the world has ever known who conveyed, and thereby led, our nation to compassion and regard for the human dignity all people? I say Seth is the pollutant, the adulterer of something good and pure. I'd say the stick in the mud is the concept that tells women that nudity in film is honorable work, when the shocked look on the actresses faces during the We Saw Your Boobs extravaganza defies that concept as truth. That concept is a stick in the mud to dignity and honor. Shocking Revelation #1: woman are vulnerable to disregard. Like it or not, it is true.

The sticks in the mud are standing firm in the muck, trying to voice regard for incredible life experiences that have left many folks wounded and struggling ... and wanting to escape to a safe place. Entertainment can be that safe place, but not when viewers are slapped in the face with the personal memories of violence or loss or cutting words, or are left doubting their own value. Life is full of imperfections, but to strive for a world that does not hurt quite so much seems an honorable desire.

Then comes the second part of the very same definition and origin of the phrase stick in the mud that I used earlier in this rant. After the noble descriptor of "An unpleasant contaminate (stick) in the potter's clay that ruins the finished product," we are presented with the following: Term is applied to unpleasant/ uncooperative persons who spoil fun or good times by being non-homogeneous. With that, stick in the mud becomes an identifier as a pollutant to status qou, as a pollutant to anything goes, as a pollutant to the very value and hope for the human condition. I personally have no desire for a clay pot made without the interference of a stick in the mud or two of insight and wisdom and desire for all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. 

Shocking Revelation #2: I hope I keep being a stick in the mud.