The other day I received a message from someone that was very much a part of my life many years ago, but drifted away. Apparently this person is returning to either the area or the community, I really don't know since this message was the first time I had heard from this person in years. The message was basically telling me that I was a hypocrite for having competed in March for my current title, and going on to International in a few weeks. This person went on to give examples of why I should not be a title holder, and was down right ugly. In the past, I would have had a melt down after reading the message, and most likely would have believed every word. Years of therapy made a difference.
I will admit, the first time I competed was for all the wrong reasons. I wanted the title because I thought it would make me popular and someone special. Wow, looking back on it, I am so glad I didn't win that title. I now know that a title will not do what I 'thought' it would do. The second year I competed, it was more out of a desire to prove that I was a good bootblack. Again, I am glad that I did not win that year but that is more due to some family things that happened. However, the judges comments, and comments by people I never realized were watching gave me a lot of food for thought.
In the two years between competitions, I had a lot of time to work on ME, as well as my bootblacking. A lot of things happened during those years, and every single event was something that allowed me to have a life lesson. I had come to the decision that I was not going to compete in a bootblack contest again, mostly for personal reasons. But when leathermen I respect come to me asking that I compete for SWCBB, I was floored. I debated internally for some time, discussed it with Daddy Tyr, more discussions with Daddy Mark and then even more internal debate. I had to make sure that the reason I was competing was for the right reason, which did not include my personal agenda.
See, I have a dream. It is a simple dream really. I want to be able to present bootblacking to anyone who wants to learn about it. But I also want to present it to people that have absolutely no idea about bootblacking. Yes, I can do this without a title, but in reality, having the title makes it much easier to get into places to bootblack. When Daddy Mark explained to me the changes he was making in the titles this year, adding the emphasis on Leadership, Education and Community I knew then that I wanted to be a part of what he was trying to do. So I agreed to compete.
I have some really exciting things in the works for not just the rest of my title year, but the years ahead. And the best part of these plans is there will be others involved. And some of it will allow me to do exactly what I love to do.....share bootblacking with others and help others start on their own path.
