Well, now I'm on my own, and still stupid a lot of the time. I received an email the other day, which was asking for stories; 'write for a better world', and because youtube was taking nine hours to upload one lousy video, I decided to write by bit. It wasn't until I finished that I scrolled farther down on the email to see that the invitation was to kids in grades five to eight. Dang!!
Not that what I wrote was going to make a better world anyway; just me rambling on as usual. But because I went to all that trouble, I will share it here (after letting you know that now on youtube there are six new videos - the first five uploaded with ease; - the five are live at Hugh's Room, and the 6th is in San Pancho, Mexico). Just search under my name.
Nope, just the five are up. the computer is going to shut down before #6 uploads. oh well.
Here's my blather:
I was watching one of those American sit-coms the other night, which in general are silly, with their laugh tracks and obvious jokes, but this one was presenting some thoughts on the very real dilemma of the world today, in particular with the government recently elected in that most powerful country.
At the end,
they ran a piece of the speech given by Martin Luther King, the famous “I have
a dream” part, and as that old black and white footage reeled on, I suddenly
was overcome with tears. “Hey!” I
thought, “Have I lost it? Watching too
much TV?, and not getting enough exercise?”
But I
realized pretty quickly why the sadness was so overwhelming. I had been alive when King gave that speech; I
was a young adult, pregnant with a child, and pregnant too, with all the hopes
that the 60’s generation had engendered. There was so much then to be hopeful
about: the civil rights movement; the women’s movement; the changing freedoms
in society; and of course, the music, which had us all singing our truths and
idealism.
What a changed
world it is now, with not only the actual climate, by our own doing, wreaking
havoc everywhere, but as well, the climate in people’s heads being so
frightening. Terrorism, yes, intolerance, greed of the corporate world and the
rich one percent of the population, children murdering each other in schools
for a mobile phone, police brutality, the endless hate and wars that are
perpetrated. It’s too much, sometimes,
and I realized that in my heart I felt like it was too great a loss. What happened?
Greed and
ingratitude happened; selfishness, power of a few, lack of caring. It seems as
if no one wants to take time any more. Well, most working people don’t have any
time, since their salaries, and those of the CEO’s are so disparate, and
families go without basic needs. And those who do have some extra cash spend it
on every new gadget that comes along to further reduce their time with real
people; gadgets that allow the big interests to follow our every move and control
us even more with the information they glean from us.
What happened
to us that we no longer think for ourselves the same way; or feel connected the
same way? Maybe some people would say
they are more connected via the internet. I hope they are, in good ways,
keeping the things that matter most to us as the priorities. Maybe it’s just
me, needing to re-involve myself as I did back then. Maybe I need to have a
virtual pregnancy, to give birth to some new hope.
There are
many people and groups who work tirelessly to change all the evil in the world,
and I appreciate and support them when I can. I like to make music, write
songs, connect with people via the melodies and emotions and thoughts. I can
use my compositions to get the messages out there to people in language that
goes beyond borders. I can remind people to feel what they feel.
Thank you,
Martin Luther King, for living and informing and acting. Your dream lives on in
many hearts.
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