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The Trademark Letter
The Trademark Letter
Dear Reader,
I’m writing this letter by hand tonight, so you know how much it means to me (images below).
A few months ago, I began a self-exploration journey and discovered whom I wanted to be. As a child, I remember thinking about being 40 years old as a distant goal I might never reach. I also felt I was supposed to grow up at some point.
Maybe the jokes that made me laugh at ten wouldn’t be funny anymore, or I wouldn’t think certain girls were good-looking. I also remember trying to guess at what age I would “feel like an adult. Maybe 40 years old?” I thought. The ignorance of youth can be a funny mistress.
I worked hard for 20 years to be where I am today. I finished college, worked through awful underpaid jobs, and fought for every promotion and new hire. I married my final college girlfriend and had three children, but not in that order.
So, why would I then go on a spiritual quest? Well, it may come as no surprise to discover that I started to fall apart a few years ago. Anxiety attacks, tinnitus, cancer scares, and surgeries would define my last three years. All of the money in the world can’t fix those problems. So, as all desperate men do when life is physically falling apart, I turned to the emotional and spiritual for guidance.
The Boy and the Yin-Yang
How Taoism Found Memedium.com
With Taoism now fully centralized in my life, I wanted to share my stories with others. I had learned so much in so little time that I was bursting at the seams. Working from home, however, doesn’t help with knowledge sharing. So, after a year-long sabbatical from most social networks, I opened a new account on Mastodon to begin a new path about sharing — a journey of hope and happiness.
The Taoist Online isn’t just a brand name or a catchy slogan for a website or a Medium publication. It’s who I am. It’s my mission statement. I’ve been called a fraud and accused of cultural appropriation because I’m white and openly proclaim to be a Taoist. But as God told Moses, “I am that I am.”
I can’t change that even if I want to. I don’t believe that we get to change who we are. Instead, the world shapes and molds us. Does the stone choose to be rounded by the water? No, the water did what it did, and the effect was making the stone round. I am the stone; now I am round because of the water.
I started a GoFundMe five days ago to raise money for a trademark from the US Trademark and Patent Office. I wanted to own the phrase, The Taoist Online. I endeavored to protect whom I had become. As with any human name, thousands of people can be named Patrick individually. But not many named exactly Patrick Benjamin Stewart. Three common words, but together, they are mine. Such, too, is The Taoist Online. Separate, they are useless, but together they are my strength, my spirit.
After placing the link at the end of countless posts on Medium, Mastodon, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, I’m happy to write that I raised the $250 required to file. I couldn’t have done this without the help of literally hundreds of people who favorited, boosted, retweeted, clapped, commented, and followed me. Even though I was told it wasn’t worth it, it was a beginner’s mistake, and I “should just focus on making great content.” I knew I wanted this, and I wouldn’t let trolls or naysayers stop me.
So today, I’ve completed the application, paid the overly expensive fee to my government, and with some luck, I will legally own the name as contractually given to me by the United States.
Thank you. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart and the deepest part of my soul.
Sincerely,
Patrick Stewart
Thank you all for reading and a special thank you to Emily Porter who inspired me to write it out by hand. You’re right, Emily. It does mean more this way.
