To me, it seems there are two ways we can react to these ridiculously horrifying times, where no one and nowhere seems 100% safe (hard to believe an American has to say that, and of course comparatively speaking most of us are living lives of unequivocal luxury. A person in one of the devastated neighborhoods of Syria or Venezuela would be slapping me right about now). Anyway - we can react with hatred, anger, cynicism, we can pick fights, we can sit behind our computers and talk about how crappy the world is. And you know - thats all pretty justified. There is an awful lot wrong with the world these days. Me? Im the idiot who is the canary in the coal mine. Id rather sing. Id rather celebrate the people I love and adore who as of right this minute are still in my life and doing ok. Im going to cling to you all ever harder, oh you people who make up the fabric of my life. Because now more than ever I know that time is precious. I know that I cant take for granted that I can wait till tomorrow to tell Tom Redwine that he makes me smile just about every day, and Brian and Mike too. Life is not obligated to give me a chance to tell all of the Jennifers who may read this that your strengths, while entirely different, make me admire you, and that the strengths of Molly and Angela and Lesha and Amber-Lee and Kaarina inspire me every day. The universe does not have to promise me a chance to tell Kristi Colvin that her relentless trying makes my heart sing, and I just cant take for granted the concept that I can tell Nikki and Cheri and Paget that I sure am glad a silly TV show brought us all together and that we are still together ten years later. I have no guarantee that I can wait until tomorrow to thank Roy and Becky and Dawn and Lisa and Jill and Sherree for their quiet, unceasing support. I am not promised another day to tell Michelle, Erin, Olivier, Geoff, and Karima that they are some of my lifes strongest keystones, and I am not even guaranteed the opportunity to tell everyone in my family, near and far, that I would be nothing without them. Am I burying my head in the sand? Hell no. I know the world is hard and unfair and I know that people are dying for no reason at all, out of nowhere, like a bad dream. But today, right now, all of you are still with me. Im going to sing about that. You bet your ass Im going to sing about that. And Im going to try to make you smile when youre down because I know the opportunity to do that is a gift, not a guarantee. And I will post pictures of kitties and puppies and bunnies and I will tell you stories about people doing amazing things because dammit people, thats what will save us in the end. Love, laughter, gratitude, appreciation. The only gift these massive tragedies can give us is to slap our stupid faces and say APPRECIATE THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE, you dumb fools. They could be snuffed out tomorrow and youll have missed your chance. I know I will rub some of you the wrong way on this matter. I know you will think that I am crimping your style or that I am being too naive or too...whatever else you might come up with. But Im still the idiot canary that will sing till I choke to death. You wont shut me up. I have too much to be grateful for and I will not let the hatred growing in the world win. There are people right now, tonight, whose songs have been stopped. I will sing for as long as I can, for as long as Im allowed to. I will ponder their loss and the tragic senselessness of it, and though I am not religious I will send up a prayer and say, please grant me another wonderful day with all of these truly fine people. And let their loved ones be ok too. My head is not buried in the sand. My head is looking up and I am singing a song of gratitude and joy. You cant shut me up. Not for a minute. Not in these times.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 02:23:00 +0000