MAGIC IN THE HAT

I’ve brought this up a few times before…but again I have to share how there is a kind of magic imbedded in this tie-dye bucket hat I wear. There is something welcoming in this hat…something safe and kind and gentle. And, having just returned from England and France…it’s appeal is intercontinental It’s hard to imagine all the wonderful conversations this little hat’s begat… and I long ago lost count of all the people who stop to say, “I love your hat”. Perhaps they understand when they see its bright colors draw near… that from the person underneath this hat…there is nothing they need fear. Take the other day for instance…I had an encounter I won’t soon forget when I found myself in a conversation with a man I’ve never met. We began talking about a stove Deborah and I were about to buy then quickly and with ease… the conversation turned from this stove to our families. This man felt comfortable sharing that his daughter was transitioning… It had to be the hat I thought as I lovingly touched its brim as this man was proud to tell me now his daughter now looks a little more like him. I wish every one in this world who is prejudiced and bigoted… who have a distorted and misinformed point of view… would understand that 1 in every 10 people they meet is LGTBQ. Which means the most die-hard bigots out there…if they opened their eyes would see there’s probably and LGBTQ member hiding in their family. Hiding from their hatred…developing lasting scars… afraid to let the world know…exactly who they are. But there are people who acknowledge and accept people the bigots don’t who offer them safety and love…where prejudice people won’t. A place where they are not only welcomed…but emboldened…Imagine that… which makes me wonder if that is the beauty, and the power and the magic of the hat. And makes me wish more people out there… more parents, politicians, world leaders and diplomats… would one day wake up and discover… the kind of magic that’s in my hat.