Has it really been fifty years?

Was it really fifty years ago today that one of the most electric moments in cultural history occurred?



It amazes me that the screaming, bouncing girls in the audience then are either close to or at Social Security age. (It's also something I don't want to think about.)

Back to the Beatles. All four of their Ed Sullivan Show appearances are available on this DVD, which deserves a place in your video library.

I'm sorry I couldn't find more footage to share on my blog. But when you watch the whole video, take a look at the faces of the Beatles. Take a look at the faces of their fans. So much joy. So much hope.

I cannot in truth say that life was better in 1964 than it is today. Back then, we were so ignorant about issues that we're just learning to understand now. Something was in the air in 1964, and that was hope. A belief that humanity was moving in the right direction - and the will to work to make that happen.

Many of us, alas, have lost both the belief and the will.

That cannot stand.

Something else rode side-by-side with hope in the 1960s...that something was called creative courage.

Popular rock musicians and singers and songwriters and producers had greater freedom to be artists, to evolve, to change styles. To listen to the mandate of their creativity, not the fickle winds of what might sell most. And that music got played on commercial radio.

Today, the risk-takers live in the indie world - where you may not find them unless you listen to public or Internet radio. Pop music - the kind you hear on today's commercial radio - is too dull. It's doesn't touch the heart or echo off the bone. It doesn't tell your story. It's like a commercially grown tomato - pretty, shiny, and as nourishing as a plastic toy from a vending machine.

The Beatles will never get "old," or "tired," because theirs is the music of joy and hope, and we need that always. Listen to "I Want to Hold Your Hand" today...and then hold the hand of something (or someone!) good.

Watch this TED talk

I watched this TED talk by Alex Steffen at Chapman University today:



Dammit, we need some hope.



 

A note for the discouraged

There are scores of stories about people doing the work you love to do – and not only surviving, but thriving quite nicely, thank you. However, you are more likely to read about the unemployed and underemployed in the mainstream media.

Why? It’s the same reason why functional, psychologically healthy people rarely show up on reality shows – trouble makes a story. Things that go wrong are the bread and butter of what we call "the news."

If you feel discouraged in your job search, read stories about people who are succeeding, whether or not they are famous or super-rich, and avoid reading stories about people who are failing. This may sound cold, but when you are vulnerable you need the powerful vitamins called good news more than ever.

Please pass this along to everyone who needs it.

Glad...no matter what

Ever since the mid-1990s, I have been a dedicated reader of SARK, the author of colorful, handwritten, life-affirming books. If you haven’t read SARK (acronym for Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy), start with Succulent Wild Woman(as I did).

Earlier this month, SARK’s 16th book came out: Glad No Matter What. SARK describes how she faced losses large and small in her life (the large ones included the death of her mother, the death of her cat, and the loss of a love relationship). Even inside these big losses, SARK insists, you can find a piece of gladness that gleams like a rainbow.



Glad No Matter What came along at just the right time for me. Lately, it has been hard not to feel depressed about my career, with most of my applications and inquiries falling into a black hole (and not even a “thanks but no thanks” reply). Coupled with the chill and clouds of November, I’ve been feeling small and vulnerable and meaningless. Is there really a place for my work out in the world? How can I bring in some bacon (real bacon, not penny-a-word beggin’) for my household? Who should I be contacting for good, well-paying work?

Where’s the gladness in all of this? I have the time, means, and opportunity to find those good “whos”. I have Two Dogs by my side, and can go to him for the right answer when I have a question. I now know what I want and what I do not want, and am now able, at last, to say “no” to the “do not want”. When I remember this, I feel large and powerful and real.

Thanks, SARK! (And thanks also to Two Dogs for the photo of me with the book.)

Which way, voters?

Image courtesy of jdurham at MorgueFile.com


Eight days from now, most of us (at least I hope) will exercise the right to vote for our government representatives. I often feel anxiety at this time, because while I do my research and try to make the right choice, I worry that not enough of my fellow voters will do the same.

Two years ago, I believed that decency and rationality was going to take a foothold in politics. Sadly, dark forces have sprouted up, conjuring up straw boogeymen to make the people frightened. These forces pretend to be the voice of the “common folk”, but their true agenda is grasping power, and the people be damned.

A frightened populace is one that is likely to make hasty, ill-informed decisions – decisions that could have damaging consequences that can last for decades. Now is not the time to make things worse.

So which way, voters?

Are you going to listen to your fear…or your hope?

Are you going to help make America great…or easy to hate?

The answers are in your hands.

Vote on November 2nd.