(not necessarily in that order)
I had never heard of The Flaming Lips and must confess that my first thought when seeing these photos is that this was all a joke. But no — they really are doing concerts with band and audience inside “space bubbles!”
All I can say is, they get major points for thinking wayyyyy outside the box!
….to convey what happens to my soul when I hear such perfection of tone and pitch and shared interpretation. I also don’t have words to explain why music affects me this way.
All I know is that this level of harmony opens a doorway to… what? Awakens transcendent memories of….what?
Another dimension???
All I know is music — from a cappella Disney Princess medleys to Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart; from Mahler, Wagner, and Prokofiev to Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Johnny Mathis; from Kenny Loggins, Al Jarreau, and Gino Vanelli to Swami Kriyananda — is able to take me out of myself and into someplace entirely else.
What a gift.
….and get it done!
(Also known as gearing up for our next virtual choir extravaganza.)
The countdown to the Christmas concert is well underway and the pressure is on!🎅
Does anyone celebrate TGIF (aka Thank God It’s Friday) anymore? It was a “thing” during my early adulthood; there was even a restaurant named TGI Friday.
Oh my goodness! I was curious about the spelling of the restaurant name and discovered that they still exist! I guess Friday evening “happy hour” is still a big thing. Wow. Who knew?!?
Anyway, it’s been a rather intense week, with a particularly active Friday to finish it off. So we’re definitely ready to stick a pizza in the oven, pour some kombucha, and watch something light and funny on Netflix.
Thank goodness it’s Friday, y’all!
Don’t tell my inner self-saboteur, but…
💞 I was in bed before midnight last night (whoohoo!);
💞 I’ve been meditating regularly;
💞 I’ve been keeping up my Egoscue exercises, self-myofascial release, and weekly massages, so my shoulder is definitely on the mend;
💞 I spontaneously started back to doing some important daily practices that fell by the wayside some time ago; AND
💞 I walked twice around the Rajarsi Park circle today!
Don’t tell, okay? And cross your fingers that I can keep it up! 😄
I really needed this tonight.
Music from Disney favorites (Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, and Dumbo), in an incredible arrangement, sung by some of the most amazing singers I’ve ever heard. Musical perfection.
Ahhhh…found my happy place. 🥰🌈
Because the temptation is real, the provocation is great, and it definitely takes two to tango.
I’m determined not to lump people with different beliefs or agendas into an “other” category in my mind, but I can’t simply forget the fact that many of those same people see me as an “other.”
When we had an African-American family in the White House, it hurt me on a very deep and visceral level to read comments comparing the First Lady to an ape. You can’t stoop much lower than that! It had nothing to do with policies or agendas or even politics, really. I heard the underlying message as: you can reach the highest position in the land but you’re still not good enough…you’re still the “other.”
When we step up, commit to doing better, and “take the high road,” sometimes it means we have to turn the other cheek, as it were. It also means working hard to remember that a person is not their behavior; that we can love the sinner while objecting to their sin; and that we can hold the space for someone to grow, improve, and eventually transform.
This is a tall order, because sometimes we rebel against having to be that “good!” Actually, a very old memory along these lines resurfaced as I was thinking about all this…
When I was a sophomore in high school I tried out for the cheerleading team, which meant lots of afterschool practices. Now, I was a good kid — father on the school board; mother active in community events; got good grades; played flute in the band; responsible-like — so I had all the routines down and was always at all the practices,
Tryouts were drawing near and emotions were running high. Paula Foreman, the varsity cheerleader in charge of the practice, insisted on going over and over and over a routine that some of the girls hadn’t learned yet. It was frustrating.
At some point, I let my frustration show with a small eye roll and a big sigh, and Paula caught it. “Look at Sharon’s attitude,” she taunted. And I lost it, yelling: “Don’t you give me any sh– about my attitude!” You could have heard a pin drop. Everybody was shocked — cheerleaders, basketball players, and anyone else in the gym that afternoon — because they’d never seen me blow up like that before. It didn’t fit their image of me.
Well, it didn’t fit my image of myself, either. But it taught me something about the relativity of expectations. I can’t seem to put it into words at the moment (maybe because this is already so long and it’s quite late!), but I’m pretty sure it’s still informing my behavior to this day.
Lately I’ve been reflecting on the word “other” as a verb: “to view or treat (a person or group of people) as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself.”
It seems to me that “othering” is a behavior that is on the increase among people who I think really ought to know better; namely, friends and colleagues that I know and love. These are people with intelligent minds and big hearts, who are falling into the trap of turning those they disagree with into the “other.”
Of course, once we’ve turned someone into the “other,” we feel justified in talking to and about them in a way that mutes our empathy, dims our compassion, and diminishes our humanity.
This is not the way forward!
I found the following in a blog post as I was reading up about this. As a self-described “liberal,” I found it rather sobering:
“Interestingly enough, some argue that liberals’ use of “other” as a verb actually contributes to political othering by alienating conservatives. In a recent piece for Commentary magazine titled “The Resistance’s Hat Trick — ‘Othering’ for beginners,” Christine Rosen wrote, “‘Othering’ is a term favored by the left … Trump uses dehumanizing rhetoric to discuss immigrants; the left parries with ‘othering’ rhetoric about MAGA-hat wearing Trump voters. And round and round the cycle goes. It’s great for clickbait and Twitter wars, but terrible for healthy debate.“
From New Verb Provides an ‘Other’ Perspective by Rob Kyff
We can do better than this; we need to do better than this; we must do better than this!
One can rejoice without gloating. And one can grieve without despairing. Don’t gloat and don’t despair; those behaviors will simply impede the healing this country so desperately needs.
It’s time for extra doses of kindness, empathy, compassion. And, of course, LOVE.
May we all be United in the intention of Peace and Healing for the benefit of all beings. Namaste.
Molly Mele
I’m so grateful Biden and Harris won and I’m feeling the joy of hopeful new beginnings. In the next few days I hope to share some thoughts about compassion and empathy; about being magnanimous and gracious in victory; and about not falling into the trap of “othering”.
But for tonight, I’m content with this prayer.