My View from the Top of the World

  Last week, I ended with the above quote: Don't reach for normal, reach for better. Let's talk about that.   We all want normal back, right?  That's why there are so many strong feelings about reopening our businesses, schools, towns and cities after several months of "quarantine."  Our activities, indeed, our daily lives, have been restricted for long enough that we are edgy, anxious, depressed, and angry. We are desperate to get our lives back, to be able to get back to work and school, to travel, go to concerts and movies, and to visit friends and family.   The problem is, that although we are ready to get back to normal, this virus is just not.  In this instance, the virus is in control.  This situation disallows normalcy.  In fact, I do wonder whether things will ever go back to the normal that we knew.  I think that this is the root of all the chaos and division that we are experiencing as a community.   , We want ...

Since the early 1900's, the phrase, "the black dog," first used by Victorian nannies to refer to their "dark moods," has been a well known metaphor for depression.  Indeed, this image of a large, dark, growling, ever-present companion seems to me, to be a rather accurate metaphor.   Michele Obama turned some heads this week, as she mentioned in her podcast that she believed she was suffering from a "low grade depression." The cause of this, she believes, is the extended quarantine, along with the constant barrage of negative news, racial and civil unrest, and politics overload.  Who can't relate?? When I say she turned heads, what I mean is, she turned my  head. She made me sit up and pay attention, and yes, I had to engage in some introspection.  This involved a little more self-examination than I have been used to doing lately. You know, when things are going along fairly smoothly, you can get a little loosey-goosey with your mental health and se...

Mr. Rogers was my neighbor.  For three years, I lived in an apartment building not far from the WQED station in Oakland. Fred Rogers' office was housed in that apartment building. We would frequently run into eachother as we were collecting our mail. He had a warm smile and a friendly greeting, as you would expect. Our interactions never went much further than that, but it was a sweet thing, having Mr. Rogers for a neighbor, and looking back, I wish I would have known him better.  This week we celebrated World Kindness Day. WQED promoted #cardigan day to mark their 75th anniversary and to spread kindness while honoring their most renowned personality.  The city of Pittsburgh was all in, even some of the hospitals wrapped their newborns in tiny cardigans to commemorate World Kindness Day and to pay tribute to Pittsburgh's kindest neighbor.  In searching through Fred Rogers quotes, I discovered that he truly had important messages for all of us, not just fo...