Starry Night Over the Rhone, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888. Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France.
We can always count on music to enrich us and connect us to each other, no matter who we are or where we are from. Some songs are especially good at making us feel better, no matter how we are feeling. Here are a few favorites from my very long list. They bring up different moods and they are all mixed up, so don’t expect any kind of emotional theme or evolution. And please share some of your own!
People congregating! Oakland 2019.
By now, I think we have learned that there are two kinds of people when it comes to staying at home. The first category of people say, “I am doing great, enjoying this time to relax and slow down. I am calling my friends on zoom and doing online yoga!”
The second category of people say “Oh yeah, well, I was kind of down yesterday but I am better today. Lots of people have it much worse than me. We’ll get through this, no problem.” If you are in the first category, please know that the people in the second category are actually thinking “I am going out of my mind.”
Lake Merritt, Oakland, California
I used to think the title of the Beatles’ song, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” meant Lucy was taking diamonds into the sky. But now I think it means Lucy is going into a sky that already has diamonds. I changed my mind about this after I realized why the air in my Bay Area home feels different. It has sparkles in it! The natural beauty here is covered in a light that our proximity to the ocean makes glittery.
Eastman Johnson: A Ride for Liberty- circa 1862
I recently came across a reminder of a simple act of defiance that changed history. In 1517, Martin Luther tacked a document called the 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenburg Castle church. The 95 Theses questioned the foundations of the all-powerful Catholic church. Most specifically, the document challenged the church’s practice of “indulgences,” payments made by believers as a way to enter heaven. Indulgences empowered the church and enriched the church elite, mostly at the expense of the poor.
Laura Sierra’s house in San Miguel de Allende, Murals painted by her and Pepe Rodriguez.
When I was 11, my mother said, apparently out of the blue, “You know, sometimes we don’t know how we are going to pay all the bills. When that happens, your dad and I write a check to the homeless shelter. It reminds us how fortunate we are.” I am still thanking her for that expression of my parents’ sense of community and humanity. Continue reading
Some people are actually happy about the current situation. They aren’t profiting from other people’s anxiety or misery, and they don’t think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for epidemiological research. Best of all, they understand whatever we are feeling and will do their best to make us feel better.
Melissa and Rory doing self-care masks
Lots of talk these days about masks and not in a good way….Masks seem to have become a symbol of failed leadership. This is another one of those deals where, if we aren’t paying attention, the moment could change our associations with something that is more than a technical solution to a public health problem.
Hand of giant Buddha at Sukhothai, Thailand
The human mind is interesting for soooo many reasons. One is the power of association. Our brains take short cuts so we don’t have to analyze every single situation every single time. So, for example, if you are at your favorite outdoor cafe eating lasagna when a cat throws up on your shoe, you may choose pizza the next time you go to that cafe. And your brain may be making this decision for you even if you don’t know it. Guessing this is why I never returned to my favorite Thai restaurant after I found a giant cockroach in my pad ke mow.
Camino Milagro 