Putting it all in perspective

So I’ve been thinking…

So much about happiness in life is a matter of perspective.  We may whine about a hang nail in private, but we wouldn’t do it in front of someone who has had his finger amputated.  We may complain about being overweight, but we wouldn’t dare complain in front of someone who is starving.  And, a lesson I learned this week, we shouldn’t bemoan our misfortune for having a leaky toilette when so many others are waking up to the reality that their entire homes are flooded.

So knowing this, that putting our travails in perspective is critical to our own happiness, why don’t we do it more often?  I think I know.  Because perspective requires us to see that we are not at the center of the universe.  Perspective says that it really isn’t all about what is happening to me right this second.  Perspective necessitates humility.  And if there is one thing no one gets excited about, it is being humbled.

Isn’t this the whole crux of our spiritual condition?  Isn’t this why Satan was kicked out of heaven, why Adam and Eve ate the apple, why virtually every king of ancient Israel turned his back on God, why Jonah whined about having to go to Ninevah, why Judas turned his back on Jesus, why Ananias and Sapphira lied about their profits,  and on and on and on???

When it comes to viewing my own life, I’m working on readjusting my lens.  I don’t plan on pretending that the aggravations of life don’t phase me—a $300 plumber’s bill is nothing to sneeze at—but I want to be sure that I’m not mistaking the merely aggravating for the truly catastrophic.

Farewell to an heirloom

The day I have been dreading for so long has arrived.   Today Guiding Light airs its final episode.  I find myself filled with sadness, anger and gratitude.  I’m so sad that these characters that I have come to love will disappear from my life.  I’m so angry that CBS has taking this broadcasting treasure away from all of us.   And I’m so grateful for the 28 wonderful years of shows that I was privileged to watch. 

In describing Guiding Light, Kim Zimmer (Reva Shane) said it so well.  “The show is an heirloom.  It gets passed down from generation to generation.”  Amen to that.  My grandmother used to listen to The Guiding Light on radio.  My Mom watched it with her as a little girl.  And I discovered GL in junior high school.  And now it won’t be there for the next generation.  That saddens me.

Shame on you CBS.  We trusted you to guard this treasure and you let us down.

Most of all, thank you to the cast and crew of Guiding Light for creating this masterpiece.  Well done.

Power to the Little People!

So I was thinking…

What does it take for an individual to have a BIG impact?  Well  a college student and recent college grad schooled me–and American journalism–this week.  James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles’ exposé of ACORN demonstrated the amazing impact individuals can have when they have a focused determination.  These two young people have courageously exposed corruption in the government-funded nightmare that is ACORN.  It seems ACORN has no problem using tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars to help madams become more efficient in their exploitation of foreign sex slaves.  Our tax dollars at work ladies and gentlemen.

And in a case of “the fox is guarding the chicken coup,”  Barack Obama, as a presidential candidate, paid ACORN $800,000 for its voter registration services during the presidential campaign.  THIS is the guy we’re supposed to trust to investigate ACORN’s dirty dealings?!

Congratulations to Gov. Pawlenty for putting a freeze on state funding to ACORN and to Gov. Schwarzenegger for his urging of California’s Attorney General to investigate the organization.  Kudos too to my own state’s governor Sonny Perdue for his decision not to renew Georgia’s contract with ACORN when it expires in 13 days.

Thanks to pressure put on them in the wake of the O’Keefe and Giles’ exposé, the House and Senate have FINALLY taken an interest in ACORN.  The Senate voted on Monday to ban federal funds in the current transportation and housing appropriations bill from going to ACORN.  Today, the House followed suit, voting 345-75 to defund ACORN.

Unfortunately, there are still more than 80 elected representatives who did not stand up to protect hard-working Americans from having their tax dollars squandered by ACORN.  Here is the “hall of shame”–those who voted in support of the clearly corrupt ACORN.  If your congressman or senator is on the list, it is time to pick up the phone and voice your disgust.  Better still, how about donating to their competitors’ campaigns?

Senators who voted to keep funneling your tax dollars to ACORN:

Burris (D-IL)
Casey (D-PA)
Durbin (D-IL)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Leahy (D-VT)
Sanders (I-VT)
Whitehouse (D-RI)

House Members who voted to keep funding ACORN:

Baldwin D WI No
Becerra D CA No
Brady (PA) D PA No
Brown, Corrine D FL No
Butterfield D NC No
Capuano D MA No
Carson (IN) D IN No
Castor (FL) D FL No
Cleaver D MO No
Clyburn D SC No
Crowley D NY No
Cummings D MD No
Davis (IL) D IL No
DeGette D CO No
Delahunt D MA No
Doyle D PA No
Edwards (MD) D MD No
Ellison D MN No
Engel D NY No
Fattah D PA No
Filner D CA No
Fudge D OH No
Green, Al D TX No
Grijalva D AZ No
Hinchey D NY No
Hirono D HI No
Holt D NJ No
Honda D CA No
Jackson (IL) D IL No
Jackson-Lee (TX) D TX No
Johnson, E. B. D TX No
Kilpatrick (MI) D MI No
Kucinich D OH No
Larsen (WA) D WA No
Lee (CA) D CA No
Lewis (GA) D GA No
Lynch D MA No
Markey (MA) D MA No
McCollum D MN No
McDermott D WA No
McGovern D MA No
Meeks (NY) D NY No
Mollohan D WV No
Moore (WI) D WI No
Moran (VA) D VA No
Nadler (NY) D NY No
Neal (MA) D MA No
Olver D MA No
Pallone D NJ No
Pascrell D NJ No
Payne D NJ No
Polis (CO) D CO No
Price (NC) D NC No
Rahall D WV No
Rangel D NY No
Roybal-Allard D CA No
Rush D IL No
Sanchez, Linda T. D CA No
Schakowsky D IL No
Scott (GA) D GA No
Scott (VA) D VA No
Serrano D NY No
Sherman D CA No
Sires D NJ No
Slaughter D NY No
Stark D CA No
Thompson (MS) D MS No
Towns D NY No
Tsongas D MA No
Velazquez D NY No
Waters D CA No
Watson D CA No
Waxman D CA No
Wexler D FL No
Woolsey D CA No

Democrats voting “present”:

Hastings (FL) D FL Present
Watt D NC Present

Turning Out the Light

So I’ve been thinking…

I began watching Guiding Light at age 12–28 years ago.  And now I have five days left.  That’s it.  Then the light goes out forever.  And I am already grieving the loss of it.

I’ve watched through the show’s glory days and periods of embarrassment.  I’ve seen it win Emmys and seen it be both justly and unjustly snubbed by the Academy.  But through it all, I’ve watched my GL. 

It is hard to articulate what Guiding Light has meant to me all these years.  I’ve been teased by friends and family alike for my fealty to the show (or indeed to any soap opera).  But how do you explain the comfort I’ve received in knowing that, whatever else is going on in my life, Guiding Light will be there waiting for me?  How do you help someone understand that you were “there” when Phillip and Rick took Beth and Mindy to the prom?   That you were there when Reva jumped into the fountain and declared herself the “slut of Springfield?” There when Maureen died.  There when Lillian found out she had breast cancer.  There when Bert had her leg amputated.  And there for every Bauer Barbecue for the last 28 years. 

What words should I use to let someone know what this show–and these characters–have meant to me?  It isn’t an exaggeration to say that I feel like a close friend is dying–and for months we’ve known its death date.  Each weekday since the cancellation announcement was made, I watch the show and think, “we’re one day closer to the end of Guiding Light.”  The day after the show’s final day of filming a few weeks ago, I was struck by the realization that “today is the first regular workday in 72 years that Guiding Light isn’t being filmed. ” The thought broke my heart.  Yes Guiding Light is “just a TV show.”  I understand that the characters aren’t real people.  But for those of us who love show, Guiding Light was so much more than a soap opera. 

The extinguishing of the Light marks a passing of an era.  And I for one am sad to see it go.

In remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001

In plumes of smoke of dingy gray

Our innocence wafted away

Above the hole that violence bore

There on the Potomac’s shore

 

Now, still the tears begin to well

At thoughts of how those towers fell

While shards of paper wafted down

Like snow upon a frozen ground

 

Then in a quiet grassy field

Metal crashed, then sirens peeled

A dirge to honor countless brave

Who gave their all for others saved

 

Our heroes rose and heroes fell

As we wept tears that would not quell

But still we knew their hate had failed

As love remained and hope prevailed

Of Literature and Letters

So I’ve been thinking…

What is it about great books that make us want to be our better selves?  As I listen each day during my seemingly interminable commute to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (for the third time, I might add) I find myself wanting to unearth in myself the courage of Elizabeth McKenna, the selflessness of Isola Pribby, the fortitude of Dawsey Adams, the elegance of Amelia Maugery, and the inquisitiveness and openness of Juliette Ashton.  As the character of Juliette makes friends with these Guernsey Islanders through letters, they become my friends too.  I see myself at their society meetings listening to John Booker talk about his days impersonating Lord Tobias; I hear Dawsey talk of admiration for Charles Lamb; I laugh along with these fictional friends of mine.  Books–or at least really good ones–bring one into the story in such a way that you become not just familiar with the people and places described there in but acquainted with them.  Good books are a time machine and a tele-transporter.   Each morning and each evening I am transported from the latest traffic jam on I-85 in Atlanta to the cliffs of Guernsey in 1946. 

I’ve gotten acquainted with many wonderful souls through books.  Last week I got to spend time with another friend, Mrs. Elner Shimfissle of Elmwood Springs, MO thanks to Fanny Flagg’s wonderful Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven.  And of course I found lifelong friendship with the sharp tongued Elizabeth Bennet, the pragmatic Elinor Dashwood (and her sister Marianne), the well-meaning but misguided Emma Woodhouse, the thoughtful Anne Elliot, the principled Fanny Price, and the good-hearted Catherine Moreland.

I often meet people who tell me “I don’t like to read.”  I can’t fathom that.  To me, that is like saying “I don’t like to breathe.”   Or perhaps, more aptly, I don’t like to dream. 

I’ve begun to despair of ever writing something worth stocking on a library shelf.  But just as I think I should put away my quill and ink, I hear the voice of my fictional friends cheering me on.  Perhaps some day…