Thoughtful Thursday: You Hold the Key to Love and Fear

Oddly enough, the latest commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken brought to mind one of the songs that defined an age, a place, an event, a dream for love and peace:  The Youngbloods – Get Together.

I was one of those at Woodstock and heaven help me, I do not remember much.  My Cousin Billy and I were doing fine until the announcement blared out:  “…That the brown acid that is circulating around us isn’t too good. It is suggested that you stay away from that. Of course it’s your own trip. So be my guest, but please be advised that there is a warning on that one, ok?”

I haven’t a clue if it was bad, I just know at one point, my consciousness merged with lots of other people and it was….epic.  Years later, years older, years wiser, I look back at that time in my life as endless sunshine and beauty.  Of course, most of the time it was pharmaceutically enhanced but….deep in my heart, that song has stayed with me through the years.  It has defined me.  I have shared the song with those I love either by recording or my poor little voice singing along while I play the tune on the violin.  I must add, the drugs are long gone but the love still remains.

I took my husband with me to the 40th anniversary.  He watched clips, gazed at photos, talked to folk like me.  He is 10 years younger than me and was not old enough to be affected.  In fact, he could have been one of the many children there with their parents!

In 1984, an ex-lover and I had gone camping to an almost deserted place on the shore of a huge, beautiful lake.  The first morning, I awoke an hour or so before him.  I walked out of tent and dissolved into the perfect and beautiful silence.  The lake was mirror smooth.  I went to the car and brought out the case with my violin, went down to the shore and sat down.  At first, soft random melodies and then, it all came flooding back to me.  I began to play this song.  I gazed at the birds and clouds in the sky, listened to the waves softly lapping the shore.  My lover came and sat beside me.  “What is that song?”  I began to sing the words and played softly.  When I was through, I looked at him and his cheeks were wet with tears.  We sat in silence and then he said, “Please, again. I remember this song when I was in university in Tokyo.  But it means more now.”

It means more to me now.  With all the hate, war, indifference, it opens my heart anew to loving one another; to doing those small acts of kindness that only another person is aware of, to do something to help another person.  I don’t know who said this, but there is a quote:  “No matter how small, no act of kindness is ever wasted.”   You hold the key to love and fear in your trembling hand.

My Other Car is a Klingon Battlecruiser

Or … welcome to LaLa Land.  I am a realist, believe it or not.  But tucked away in my brain is my own world.  My blog is part of that world.  I invite people to sit on the porch, to visit the nishikigoi pond, to come by for fried chicken and lemonade or when the magnolias are in bloom, to help themselves to the blooms.  In turn, I’ve had visitors to the blog talk about camping out and being sure to leave it spic and span behind themselves.  Zooey the cat visits, Walter the black lab is also a regular and courteous visitor.

Sometimes though, the real world is just too much.  I have to leave and go into a world where thee is no one shooting children, torturing animals, starving the elderly.  In my world, there is no domestic violence, women are not circumcised so they can feel no sexual pressure nor are they tortured for learning to read or daring to have an opinion.  No one goes hungry, all have a place to sleep, eat, and be safe.  The past few days I HAVE JUST FREAKING HAD ENOUGH.  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

But I also realize, if I stay in that perfect world, I won’t be out in the real world trying to make a difference.  I can’t count on everyone else to do my part.  So I made a resolve today – I would light a candle against the darkness, I would spread kindness instead of hurt.  I would do good instead of evil.

There is a movement on Facebook to do random acts of kindness.  Yes, I know….blahbah,  warm fuzzy, silly stupid stuff to a lot of people.  Personally, I think we are better than that.   I paid the toll this morning for the guy behind me and asked the toll taker to tell him Merry Christmas.  At McDonald’s I bought the breakfast of a man in the Army, on his way to his day’s duties at Ft. Lee. My husband, even when he was unemployed and money was so very tight, would buy the lunch of a service person.  I always found money in the budget to make up for it.  Say thank you to a service person, or EMT, or firefighter, or a cop.

Smile back at the child in the seat of the grocery basket in front of you.  Hold the door for someone.  Let the car in front of you in line from the on ramp.  Buy a cheap bouquet of flowers and hand them out to people you ride one the elevator with everyday.  Tell someone how much you appreciate them.  Say I love you twice to your spouse as you go out the door.  Buy some $5 gas cards and hand out randomly to cars parked around you.  Volunteer at the local Veteran or Children’s Hospital.  Help out at the local food bank.

DO SOME GOOD.  Make someone smile.  Slow down and smell the rain in the air.  Watch the sunset.  Savor life.  It is all too short.  Kindness is in short supply.  Let’s make it more available to everyone.

In the meantime, I’m going to cruise around in my Klingon battle cruiser and see if I can keep that skinny dog on the side of the road from starving – help him get to a shelter and be warm.  Stop to offer help to that woman with a flat tire.  I’m going to load up my battle cruiser with some toys and drop off at the closest Toys for Tots drop off station.

I think LaLa Land might just be achievable after all.  I need your help though.  Who’s with me?