Читать книгу Eight Inches - Sean Wolfe Fay - Страница 8

I remember when I was a kid my whole world revolved around my little neighborhood in the small town I grew up in. It was easy, because in Booker, Texas, there was only one school, one small hometown bank, one gas station, and one tiny grocery store. Everyone knew everyone else, and privacy was a myth that we read about in terms of “rights to” and “invasions of.” Those terms seemed both ridiculous and strangely elusive to our little town of 500 residents.

“Globalization” for us meant gaining a deep understanding of the intricacies of life for rice patty farmers in China by watching National Geographic specials on TV or by buying imported jalapeños from Mexico with which to top our nachos.

It was hard, if not impossible, for us to understand how our lives could possibly affect that of those rice patty workers on the other side of the world, or even those Mexican neighbors immediately to our south. We were farmers working to fill our own silos; we built our own little churches—nine of them in that small town, to be exact, and we attended those churches every Sunday; and we played the same nine or ten other tiny towns in football every single year. Our little town took care of our own, and the same “village” mentality surely did the same for all the other millions of villages around the world. Our lives meant nothing to anyone outside of our village, nor did anyone else’s life affect our own.

Well, I’m not a little kid anymore, and we’re not living in that cellular, self-possessed world anymore. In a day and age where we can, and do, travel all across the world simply to go shopping or experience a meal…or, even more intimately, adopt children to become a part of our own family, many of us are beginning to realize that we are all part of one family, and that our “village” is much larger and more influential than we once thought.

I do a lot of diversity and inclusiveness trainings and workshops. In one of those workshops I use an activity called the “Circle of Influence.” In this exercise, we draw a big circle and write our names in it, and then we draw eight to ten smaller circles around the outside of the bigger circle. Inside the smaller circles we write the names of people or situations in our lives that have affected or influenced us—either positively or negatively—and we reflect on those people or circumstances, and talk about the ways in which they have helped shape who we are now.

It’s a powerful exercise, because most of the people in my classes have never given much thought to their circles of influence, and it brings home to them how, although we are all strong and unique individuals, there are a lot of people and circumstances that have helped get us to where we are. At the end of the exercise I ask my participants if their circle of influence is fairly vanilla—if it looks a whole lot like they do—or if it’s pretty eclectic. I encourage them to “color up” their circles of influence, to step outside their comfort zone and experience things and people and places and tastes and colors that are new to them. We cannot grow as people by surrounding ourselves with people just like us, or by experiencing the same things over and over again.

My last two books, Aroused and Taboo, were centered around a central theme. Each story was independent but was connected to the theme. For Eight Inches I wanted to do something different. I wanted to demonstrate how each of us is connected to one another in ways that we might never know. But the energy of the universe runs through all of us, and we are all touched by the same energy, and therefore are part of one another.

I had no idea when I began writing this book that we’d be in the beginning of possibly the most exciting time of our history—where we have a leader who commands respect from the rest of the world, and who values and embraces diversity and inclusiveness, and who believes in the power of humanity…all of it, and not just those of us who believe the same things that he does. Yes, I really did start writing this book that long ago, before anyone really thought this enlightened time in our history was possible!

But this journey that we are on now reinforces my belief that we are all connected energetically with one another, and that our actions, our words, our works, and our love make a difference—to everyone, and not just those to whom we direct them.

Whether we like it or not, we are our brother’s keeper. We share the same universal energy, and therefore we have the power to manipulate that force. It’s a very powerful idea, for sure. If we want peace, we can—by our actions, our thoughts, and our words—bring it about. By loving unconditionally those around us, we can create a ripple effect of love around the world. And by taking care of one person in need, we can create a chain reaction of compassion and works that can change the world.

Eight Inches is a collection of erotic stories, and so I hope that they will stir you in ways and in body parts that are meant to be stirred by the reading of…well…fuck stories. I do have a reputation to maintain, after all. But I also hope they help you think about the various people in your life who have helped you become the person you are, and about how you might have influenced—possibly completely changed for the better—the life of others.

Happy reading. And when you see me around, stop and say hi and introduce yourself. We’re brothers, after all, and we’re sharing energies. Change my life, and I hope I will change yours.