Swing Or Die

Baseball, Americas pastime. It knows no bounds, cares not about race, color, ethnicity, political leanings, religious beliefs and that fact helped integrate society and helped demolish some of our cultures worst attributes. It’s a pastime that can take anyone born into poverty and help them change their stars.It has helped us see past those pointless prejudices and showed us we should only judge people by their character, their personal accountability and their willingness to strive for greatness. To me it represents the very idea of freedom. It stands for what our country was founded upon. It encourages individual excellence while teaching a sense of community, togetherness, teamsmenship. it teaches regardless of ones self, we do not succeed or thrive without each other. We are all on the same team.

A baseball season is long and requires resilience and a commitment to craft. To show up, in any weather, in any condition, 160 games and eight months later to try your best and to be their for your teammates. When someone is up to bat, we at that time, do not care about class, color, etc. It is an equalizer even for a brief moment where we care about their performance, their dedication to themselves and their teammates as we route for “ our team, for each other” and can for a moment see that we are all on the same team and can from there find common ground that can help us use empathy and patience with each other as we navigate living in harmony despite our differences.

Why do we idealize athletes? Why do we hold them in high regard and cherish their sloppy signatures? They are a reminder of what greatness can be and that anyone from anywhere can make it. They are the embellishments of what it means to follow your dreams. They “throw themselves into their craft.” They go for it. This is why Deciduous feels like it’s a kin to all of our values that we hold so dear and insist the importance of these simple ideals. It’s the same message we’ve been pushing. Life is short and can end at anytime. It is our assertion that it is so easy in this life nowadays to feel hopeless or lost and that having a purpose, a direction and a discipline to hone your craft giving yourself a reason to make the most of this beautiful short life. Stand in the box, take your pitches, look for the right pitch, the right chance and swing for the damn fences. Death comes for us all in the end, we are all just, Here For Now. Swing away… Swing or Die.