the lovers, the dreamers, and me

As we were making her bed this morning, my daughter told me that she believes her three stuffed animals are real - Barky (a dog), Simba (the baby lion from Lion King) and Aslan (passed down after more than 30 years from me to her).   The evidence:  Simba seems to have outgrown his palm leaf/diaper.

A few weeks ago, I lent out a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit to a client. It's a great childrens' book about a stuffed rabbit who longs to be 'real.'  And it's also about love and magic.

And, count me among the fans who saw Harry Potter #7 part 2 at the theater.  The scene that really resonated with me emotionally was where Harry has 'died.'  He finds himself in an in-between, foggy-ish, surreal-ish place reminiscent to him of King's Cross Station.  He asks Dumbledore, who is also there with him -  'is this real?  Or is it all in my mind?'

Dumbledore replies, 'Of course, it's all in your mind.  That doesn't mean it's not real.'

And here comes The Green Album, a tribute to the music of The Muppets - artists like Weezer, My Morning Jacket, etc. cover.  If anyone walks the uncomfortable line between real and not real, it's Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and the gang.  Wasn't it (and isn't it) amazing to watch the human actors interact with  the muppets, whether you watch on Sesame Street or the Muppet Show?  When we were talking about this album, my sister even said, 'who isn't a little in love with Kermit?'

Why is it that a kid's world is so easily magical and the adults world is so fraught with the question, the need to have absolute knowledge that anything worthy is real as measured by an objective standard? 

What about the lyrics to The Rainbow Connection?

have you been half asleep and
have you heard voices? 
I've heard them calling my name. 
Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailor?
The voice might be one and the same. 
I've heard it too many times to ignore it;
it's something that I'm s'pposed to be.
Someday we'll find it.  The rainbow connection -
the lovers, the dreamers, and me.

If we just listen, don't we know it's true?  Maybe there's a difference between true and real.  Maybe things aren't as complicated as we make them. 

I believe that if we try to stop the chatter in our brains, we can listen to something essential to ourselves.  We inherently posses in us a deep peace that knows beyond inadequate words like real or unreal.  And when we let ourselves stop that distracting chatter, we can also let go and have a little fun. 

Let's take some time to listen  http://www.npr.org/2011/08/14/138984517/first-listen-muppets-the-green-album 

In keeping with the theme, may I particularly recommend I'm Going to Go Back There Someday.  The last song on the album.

my friend, Sandy, and I save the world in 1994

I met my friend Sandy when I moved to Georgetown, Washington, DC just after I graduated from college in 1994.  Sandy and I are kindred spirit - we both enjoy a strange, sometimes ridiculous, and sometimes dark sense of humor.  And in our own ways, we are both brooders.  I'm sure we both brood less in 2011, being 17 years older.  He and I often jogged together along the C & O Canal.  I remember some beautiful Fall days along the river. 

One particular conversation we had, probably while running...it was a brooding one.  About the state of the world and how was anything ever going to get better?  Luckily, we knew the answer.  Even if it was an answer that may doom the world to eventual catastrophe because of its utter unlikelihood: 

How are things ever going to get better?  we asked ourselves in righteous, youthful cynicism.
"I THINK IT'S GOING TO TAKE A GENERATION OF MARTYRS." we decided.
"YES, THAT'S EXACTLY IT. IT'S GOING TO TAKE A GENERATION OF PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO GIVE UP THINGS THEY WANT IN THE SHORT TERM TO MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR GENERATIONS TO COME IN THE LONG TERM."   Probably, we then had to go listen to some Dave Matthews.

Yet, as I listened this past week, to the news about the debt ceiling, about the U.S. credit rating, the 'double dip' recession,  I thought about two things:  1) this conversation with Sandy and 2) stories about my Gran. 

My Gran lived to be 95 years old.  She was born in 1908.  When she was pregnant with my mom she went into labor in a rations line.  During World War II, there was an enemy and it was clear what had to be done - everyone had to 'sacrifice' some short-term comforts like sugar, gasoline, etc in order to contribute toward the cause of victory. 

The economy, politics, and looking at history really does intersect with our emotional health, both as a country and as individuals.  Looking at the long term, big picture and foregoing immediate gratification takes emotional maturity.

Thomas Friedman wrote in the NYT last week about the need for prompt and 'collective action' to correct our economic situation  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/Friedman-win-together-or-lose-together.html?ref=thomaslfriedman . 
I wonder if we can again be a nation of emotional maturity?  Can we consider collective action without being  reactionary and getting caught up in speech that automatically equates collective action with communism and threats to freedom?  I think we can. 

I also think it's a mark of mental health and maturity to take a realistic look and try to imagine all your options when you feel you're in a jam.   Sometimes our options seem so far down the road, or so difficult for one person to try to achieve anything that we tend to throw our hands up and say, "I'll just deal with my own little piece of the world."  That's okay.  But I believe we all have one immediate option, should we choose to use it: let's talk about and bring into the public dialogue the fact that  many of us feel and know that it is not a sacrifice to help make our earth, our country a more sustainable place in every way.