THIS THING WE'RE LIVING IS NOT A LIMITED SERIES

As I was getting ready for  our morning walk, I turned on the news to see what is happening in Ukraine. I think we all do some variation of this throughout the day, usually several times. Mostly, I turn on to see if Zelensky is still alive. And as I was watching the coverage, I realized that in some weird way, a lot of the Ukraine invasion has become a sort of limited series we are all watching. Something we care about, but still can turn off whenever we need to so that we can go to our jobs, or go grab a pizza or whatever. And as I'm thinking about that, the newscaster announces "price of gas above $4 a gallon for first time in years". 

And I think, how fucking awful is it that while this network is streaming onto our screens images of people who are literally fighting for their lives that the same network felt it was worth mentioning that we might be paying more for gas. 

If the fact that gas prices go up is as important as an invasion that could very possibly set off World War Three, the time, as Hamlet said, is out of joint.

We need to all take a step back and consider what is important.

On a system wide basis. We have really got to find a better way to run this world we live in. It just feels like the current one, where corporate interests run by a small percentage of the population do everything they can solely to make money at the expense of everything else, does not lead us to a healthier lifestyle.

And of course, there's the added bonus of how we are killing the planet.

I would think that would cut into profits, not having anyone alive. But what do I know.

Anyhow, my main thought is that we have to remember, every day, that what is happening in the world is not a limited series on Netflix. It is not an overlong Tik Tok video. It is not a rant by Tucker Carlson or a song by Bob Dylan. 

Those are all reflections, impressions, sales pitches, and ways people express themselves.

But they are not that elusive truth we all seem to inherently want.

This blog is just my what I happen to think and typed three days a week. Nothing more or less. 

I am all for entertainment. For thoughts and ideas being expressed. 

But we have to also balance that with critical thinking. And Experiencing life in the moment, not filtered through the internet or television or a book or blog or poem or song. 

Those are things meant to augment our lives, not replace them. 

As David Mamet wrote in his adaptation of Uncle Vanya before he lost his frigging mind, "This thing we're living? It's our life!"

Watch the news. Read books and magazines and blogs. Especially this one. Listen to music. 

Fuck yes.

But also take a long walk. Meet a stranger and say hello. Go talk in person with someone you haven't talked to in person with for a long time.

Touch a flower. Feel the sun on your face. Tend to your garden. 

Yeah. Tend to your garden, like Voltaire said to do at the end of Candide.

Here's today's song. It's Make Our Garden Grow from Leonard Bernstein's Candide.

And in honor of the state of Florida, please, all of you, Glitter and Be Gay.