I have news fatigue; and coming from someone who spend years toiling in newsrooms, that might give you pause. But really. Every morning 2020 seems to deliver another moment of doom and gloom. And from where I sit, the people causing the doom and gloom seem to be the evidence supporting the Dunning-Kruger Effect. How else to explain, for example, why the skies over Oregon and California glow bright orange right now because some fool thought a gender reveal party with fireworks, during a dry spell, was a good idea? I guess we need to give Smokey the Bear and his message: <a href="http://<!– wp:image {"align":"center","width":239,"height":344,"sizeSlug":"large"} –> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img src="https://photos.prnewswire.com/prn/20110629/MM24946" alt="" width="239" height="344"/><figcaption>https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smokey-bear-returns-to-remind-americans-only-you-can-prevent-wildfires-124703058.html</figcaption></figure></div> Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires more prominence.
Given the pace of the 2020 news barrage, I might run out of Bitmojis.
After coming out of the grocery store this afternoon, where people couldn’t follow the directional arrows on the floor to keep the aisles uncrowded, I found myself trying to think of a song that might bring me out of my funk.
Where’s Annie?? I thought. I need her to sing to me!
Then I started to cull my memory for other songs I could hum during what has turned out to be one of the most challenging times in my life, for sure.
I walked with Frank Sinatra On The Sunny Side of the Street. (My love of Frank comes from my Dad!)
I listened to another childhood favorite, High Hopes, also a Sinatra classic.
Dick Van Dyke anyone?
Or, maybe I needed the wisdom of Rosie Grier when he sang this song for Marlo Thomas’ seminal work Free to Be You and Me. I could just cry my eyes out.
Perhaps I just needed some groovy from Simon and Garfunkel; it worked in 1966.
My afternoon trip down a musical memory lane didn’t change the world; but I was distracted for awhile. Maybe the message for today (and the rest of 2020) comes from Hair Spray. We just can’t seem to stop the beat; and November is just moments away.
You can’t stop an avalanche
As it races down the hill
You can try to stop the seasons, girl
But you know you never will
And you can try to stop my dancin’ feet
But I just cannot stand still
‘Cause the world keeps spinning
‘Round and ’round
And my heart’s keeping time
To the speed of sound
I was lost ’til I heard the drums
Then I found my way
‘Cause you can’t stop the beat
Maybe I’ll just keep singing.
Begin With A Question 