Categories
Something Wonderful

A Halloween Playlist Without “Thriller” or “Monster Mash”

Nothing says "Halloween" quite like this picture of a jack o'lantern.
Image by Andreas Lischka from Pixabay

I’ve always loved Halloween, but over the years it has become one of my favorite holidays. I suspect that’s because it’s so low-pressure. Many holidays require lots of work from adults, often women. If you’re married, you may have to negotiate where, with whom, and how you celebrate. But Halloween is easy… at least, it is for my family. Before COVID-19, I usually only had to buy fair-trade chocolate ahead of time and answer the door a few times on October 31. (Our neighborhood doesn’t get many trick-or-treaters.) That gives me plenty of time to just kick back and enjoy the season.

One way I celebrate is by listening to my Halloween playlist. I started pulling it together after I got tired of listening to an Internet-based Halloween station that played the same songs over and over. I enjoy Halloween classics like “Thriller” and “Monster Mash,” but I also like variety. My actual playlist includes the usual suspects, such as “This is Halloween,” “Werewolves of London,” and “Danse Macabre.” But in the playlist below, I’ll give you some of the more unusual songs I like to listen to as Halloween approaches. I’m sure some song choices will seem obvious to you, but I’m also confident that this list will inspire some new additions to your own playlist.

Music From Soundtracks

Cat People (Putting Out Fire) – David Bowie

It’s been decades since I watched Cat People, but I remember it fondly as a slightly cheesy, not-too-scary horror film. This is the title track, which has appeared in several other movies, most recently Atomic Blonde.

Coraline End Credits – Bruno Coulais

Based on Neil Gaiman’s book of the same name, Coraline is a perfect pick for family-friendly Halloween viewing. (Note: Like adults, different kids have different tolerance levels for scary films. Please read some reviews and check out some clips before you watch it with your little ones.)

Cry Little Sister (Theme From “Lost Boys”) – Gerard McMann

Last year I mentioned The Lost Boys as one of two Halloween movies that are “spooky but not too scary.” I love this song from the opening credits.

The Cyberman – Murray Gold

In a debate over the most frightening monsters from Doctor Who, I would pick the Weeping Angels. But the Cybermen would also rank high on my list, and they have better music.

Edward Scissorhands Introduction (Titles) – Danny Elfman

Even though Edward Scissorhands takes place around Christmas, the fact that it’s a Tim Burton film makes it a natural fit for Halloween. This piece sounds more magical than spooky, but not all Halloween songs need to be scary. Don’t believe me? Think of “Hedwig’s Theme” from the Harry Potter series.

The Game Is On – David Arnold and Michael Price

I read mysteries year-round, but they feel especially appropriate as Halloween approaches. If you’ve watched Sherlock, wouldn’t you agree that music from its soundtrack belongs on this playlist?

Ghostbusters Main Title Theme – Elmer Bernstein

Sure, Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” is a Halloween classic. The actual theme for the movie, written by the great Elmer Bernstein, is also excellent.

Great Pumpkin Waltz – Vince Guaraldi

Perhaps because it’s found on the album A Charlie Brown Christmas, this Halloween song gets overlooked too often. I always play “Great Pumpkin Waltz” in October. In November I listen to another song from the album, “Thanksgiving Theme.”

Grim Grinning Ghosts – Buddy Baker

Does music from a theme park ride count as a soundtrack? I think so.

By the way, if you want to listen to a story Disney made up to go along with the attraction, featuring Ron Howard as one of two teenaged protagonists, check out The Story and Song From the Haunted Mansion.

Paul’s Theme (Jogging Chase) – Giorgio Moroder

Yes, there really are two songs from the Cat People soundtrack on my Halloween playlist.

Blade Runner End Titles – Vangelis

I deliberately veered from alphabetical order here, because you’re more likely to follow my odd musical reasoning for including this song if you listen to it immediately after “Paul’s Theme (Jogging Chase).” I don’t think of Blade Runner as a Halloween movie, but the mood of the end titles song seems to fit.

Stranger Things Title Sequence – Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein

As a member of Generation X, I am required to include this on my playlist.

Trust in Me – Scarlett Johansson (composers: Robert and Richard Sherman)

Sterling Holloway is a somewhat comedic Kaa, but Scarlett Johansson’s Kaa is seductive and evil.

Popular Music

Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo

This isn’t entirely ignored on popular Halloween playlists, but it’s vastly underplayed. That said, if this song was as ubiquitous as “Monster Mash” at this time of year, maybe I wouldn’t love it so much. (For those who don’t know, this is the second Danny Elfman song on this list. In addition to being a film composer, he used to be a member of Oingo Boingo.)

Don’t Pay the Ferryman – Chris de Burgh

Chris de Burgh is best known for his ballad, “The Lady in Red,” which still pops up on oldies stations. In my opinion, this song is far better.

Ghost – Mystery Skulls

Most of the songs on this list don’t have a video to go with them. This is an exception. You must watch this dark homage to Scooby Doo. It’s the first in a series of animated videos for Mystery Skulls.

Superstition – Stevie Wonder

If I can fit a Stevie Wonder song into a playlist, I will. Superstition, Halloween… it works.

With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm – Water City Music Tower Voices

This old song, with lyrics by R.P. Weston and Bert Lee and music by Harris Weston, has been recorded many times, so I categorized it under “popular.” The relatively new recording below is so cute that I had to include this version on the playlist. This is another video you really should watch.

Classical Music

Cinderella’s Departure for the Ball – Sergei Prokofiev

Are you scratching your head and wondering just why I included this on a Halloween playlist? Well, just listen. Doesn’t it sound a little… sinister?

Ghosts’ High Noon – W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

With ghosts and a curse, Ruddigore is the spookiest of all of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas. This version of “Ghosts’ High Noon” from the opera comes complete with a ghost puppet.

The Gnome – Modest Mussorgsky

Classical stations often play Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” around Halloween, and with good reason. But this is one of two songs from Pictures at an Exhibition that I think also fit the Halloween mood. According to Wikipedia the “picture” this represents is of a nutcracker, but I always imagine the gnome as a malevolent little fellow.

The Hut on Fowl’s Legs – Modest Mussorgsky

This is the obvious choice for a Halloween song from Pictures at an Exhibition. On a personal note, I will always associate the witch Baba Yaga with my mom. When I was a kid, I used to get Jack and Jill magazine. They often included a Baba Yaga story in their October issue, and whenever they did, my mom would exclaim, “I love Baba Yaga stories!” This one’s for you, Mom.

Infernal Dance – Igor Stravinsky

Hmmm… the classical music on this list is mostly Russian. What do my music-loving readers think: Are Russian composers the best at scary music?

Categories
Make a Difference

We Need the Arts Now More Than Ever

Photo of a woman playing the guitar: The arts bring us comfort and allow us to express ourselves.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

You’ve been hearing this a lot lately, because it’s true: We’re anxious and depressed. The pandemic, economic worries, political divisions, inequities… it’s all too much.

Thankfully, the human urge to create gives us a release valve.

The arts: Good for what ails you

Before I go any further, I want to define what I mean when I say “the arts.” I believe we need to be very generous in our definition of art to avoid snobbishness and exclusion. I’m not going to declare myself an authority and draw a line between classical music and popular music, between the paintings you see in museums and the illustrations you find in books, between The Seventh Seal and Get Out. I’m putting all music, visual art, theater and film, fiction, poetry, and dance in the same bucket: the arts.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s why I believe this broad category — the arts — is so important now.

The arts can comfort us.

In the past few months, how often have you turned to music or a good book or a favorite movie to escape from reality for a while? While we absolutely need to engage with the difficulties that are facing us, there’s nothing wrong with giving ourselves a break as we need it. And it’s far healthier to escape through a good book than it is through one too many drinks.

But turning to art is not merely escaping for a while. Good art speaks to us, almost as if the creator were holding our hands and gazing into our eyes. This recently hit home for me when I read Mary Oliver’s poem “Franz Marc’s Blue Horses.” In the poem, the horses in the painting come alive, and the poet enjoys their presence. She writes:

I do not know how to thank you, Franz Marc.
Maybe our world will grow kinder eventually.
Maybe the desire to make something beautiful
is the piece of God that is inside each of us.

“Franz Marc’s Blue Horses” by Mary Oliver

So Franz Marc’s painting brings a kind of comfort to Oliver, and she brings comfort to me through her poem.

There is still another odd sort of comfort that some people find through the arts — the comfort of experiencing the darkness through the eyes of an artist. This isn’t for everyone, but there’s a reason why many people picked up Albert Camus’ The Plague this year. In fact, some people with anxiety find horror movies comforting.

This sort of comfort through horror and dystopian fiction leads me to another reason we particularly need the arts now.

The arts give us a healthy way to vent our feelings.

When I was a moody teenager, I took great delight in playing Robert Schumann’s “First Loss” with as much pathos as I could muster. The world weighs heavily upon you when you are a teen. In adulthood, when I’m wrestling with a frustration, I’ll sit down and write fiction. It’s pretty bad fiction, but its purpose is primarily a way for me to vent and only secondarily a way to improve as a writer.

People have used creative expression to channel their feelings for thousands of years. We pen lyrics with thinly disguised political commentaries. We pour our anxiety into a dramatic painting. We find a sense of release through artistic creation or performance.

Edvard Munch channeled feelings of anxiety into The Scream.
The Scream by Edvard Munch

What does all this have to do with making a difference?

Because art feeds the soul, we need to do what we can to support creators and creativity.

When possible, we should support the arts financially.

People are struggling financially, and discretionary items, like donations to arts organizations or book purchases, are often the first things we cut from our budgets. (Although there are people like Erasmus who say, “When I get a little money, I buy books; if any is left, I buy food and clothes.”)

But if you do have the money, consider making a donation to a museum or performing arts organization and/or supporting an artist by buying their work or even giving monthly donations through a platform like Patreon.

And please don’t pirate their work or ask a creator to give you some of their work “for exposure.” Like all of us, creators have bills to pay, and even if they have a “day job” (many do), they still deserve to be paid for their work.

This doesn’t mean you can’t access art for free. Use the library. Visit a museum’s website. Attend a free virtual concert. Just make sure you’re accessing the art legally.

Like an artist’s work? Let others know!

Give someone a positive review online. Recommend them to someone who says, “I’m looking for a musician/illustrator/etc.” If you can legally share their work with a wider audience, do it! I love this hopeful story about singer Reymar Perdomo, who wrote a heartfelt song about having to leave Venezuela and who has begun to acquire a following thanks in part to a viral video.

Make artistic expression a regular part of your life.

It doesn’t matter if you can make a living from your art. It doesn’t even matter if you’re good at it. Express yourself through the arts for your own sake. And if you are talented, share your work with others in some way. You’ll experience the joy of creating something beautiful and give joy to others who get to read, view, or listen to your creation.

Categories
Something Wonderful

Berthe and Edma Morisot: A True Story About Women’s Choices

Berthe Morisot's Summer's Day, a painting in the public domain
Summer’s Day by Berthe Morisot

When I wrote my first post on a female artist, Artemisia Gentileschi, I knew I would write more like it. I even made a list of women I wanted to cover. Among them was Berthe Morisot, but I kept putting off writing about her. I felt like I had little to say beyond: “Here’s another female artist you might not know about.”

Julian Barnes’ piece about her in the September 12, 2019, issue of The London Review of Books showed me how to approach her work. He gave me my thesis by opening with this statement:

Many artists live with a shadow version of themselves: an awareness of how things might have been if they had done this and not that, if life had made this choice for them rather than that. The road not taken remains at the back of the mind. For some their shadow is an external presence, for others an inner haunting. Few can have experienced it more precisely, with more emotional complexity, than Berthe Morisot.

“The Necessary Talent,” Julian Barnes

While “The Necessary Talent” is the most informative piece I’ve read about her, I think Barnes failed to prove his statement. Most of us, artists or not, live with a shadow version of ourselves. I’m sure that Berthe questioned some of her choices. But I think it was her sister Edma — the artist who might have been — who was particularly haunted by her shadow self. And, perhaps, Edma’s shadow self haunted Berthe, too.

Two talented sisters

Berthe was one of three sisters, all of whom pursued painting, but one of whom, Yves, never went far. Edma, however, was quite talented, perhaps more so than Berthe. But Edma married and, as so many married women did, set her work aside.

Edma Morisot's portrait of her sister Berthe
Berthe Morisot by Edma Morisot

Here’s where Barnes’ argument falls apart: Berthe continued to paint, but she, too, eventually married and had a child. Surely Berthe must have engaged in the very human reflection on how her life might have turned out if she had made different choices, but as far as her art went, Berthe did not have to sacrifice marriage and motherhood to continue her career. I would guess she was more likely to have wrestled with questions such as “What would life had been like if Edma and I had been able to continue painting together? If she’d been able to continue to develop her work, would I be living in her shadow now?”

“I know I am worth as much as they”

That doesn’t mean that Berthe didn’t struggle with her choice, as a woman, to pursue a career in art. Although her fellow Impressionists recognized her talent — Degas asked for her contribution to the First Impressionist Exhibition — she still faced discrimination based on her gender. She once wrote, “I don’t think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal, and that’s all I would have asked, for I know I am worth as much as they.” Of her hundreds of paintings, she sold fewer than 50. This despite the fact that one art critic said that Berthe was the only true Impressionist at the Third Impressionist Exhibition.

La Psyche by Berthe Morisot
The Psyche Mirror by Berthe Morisot

Despite her lack of success relative to her male peers, we are fortunate to have Berthe’s work, which can be found in many museums around the world (see the list of her works at the end of this Wikipedia article). But the story of Berthe and Edma gives us plenty to ponder. How many women have abandoned a promising career because they had to choose between pursuing their talent or marrying and having children? How many women today still must wrestle with their choices, perhaps holding back their potential because of the assumption that they would do most of the housework and child-raising, whether or not they worked outside the home?

I encourage you to search out more of Berthe’s work and think about what other beautiful paintings we might have today had Edma also chosen to continue to develop her artistic talent.

Girl With a Greyhound by Berthe Morisot
Girl With a Greyhound by Berthe Morisot
Categories
Make a Difference

The Best Way to Help Your Loved Ones During the Pandemic

Olivia enjoyed baking cookies with Grandma in the family’s pristine white kitchen, so she practiced physical distancing when she was out to keep Grandma safe.

As I write this, more than 175,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19. That’s more than 85% of the population of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Despite that, we seem to be itching to get back to normal.

Some of our push to gather with others is because we’re tired of this odd way of life. But an interesting article in the Washington Post noted that many of us are also going through a form of exposure therapy. Every time we successfully go out without becoming ill, it helps us feel more comfortable with the threat of the pandemic, no matter what the statistics are.

This would be fine if our choices only affected us. I believe that many people think that way: “I’m willing to take a risk.”

But that risk could affect those around us. There is no guarantee we will know if we get the virus. We could spread it accidentally. We could hurt strangers… and our loved ones.

COVID-19 is not just something that kills the old

Early on in this pandemic, some leaders were urging people in high-risk groups to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, believing that the coronavirus only really hurts the old and those who are immunocompromised. Worse, their statements suggested that people who are in those categories are expendable.

Beyond its callousness, this point of view gives us a false picture of the virus. Yes, many of the people who are dying are over 70. But we cannot count on our kids being safe. In one family of five, four members contracted the virus. The parents both had light cases, one of their children “never even got it,” and two, both teens, were hospitalized for a month.

This leads me to another concern about the way we view the virus. We tend to focus on the two possible outcomes for those who get COVID-19:

  • You get it, and you die.
  • You get it, and you survive.

But dying from COVID-19 can be a horrible way to die. And surviving isn’t that simple. The two teenaged boys whose story I mentioned above are now in recovery and undergoing therapy. One boy mentioned that he lost 50 pounds. In his words, he woke up “a skinny, weak kid.” The other boy recited a list of the therapy he now needs: “Physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy.”

Two children, both hospitalized for a month, both needing extensive therapy to recovery. How will this affect the family financially? How many families or individuals who are hospitalized with COVID-19 will face bills they cannot afford?

There are also survivors who still suffer from symptoms like fatigue or fever. How long will they continue to feel sick? If they catch something else, like a flu, what will that do to their weakened bodies?

What we can do to help

For the sake of strangers as well as those we know and love, we need to continue to take the pandemic seriously and stop expecting things to improve on our own time schedules.

We already know many of the ways we can help others. It’s time to get over politicizing masks and just wear them, even if they aren’t very comfortable, because they help. We need to maintain physical distance from others and avoid large crowds. And we need to wash our hands thoroughly and often.

But we also need to be thoughtful as we make decisions about what risks to take. When possible, we should rely on data to make those decisions. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find data that are easy to access and interpret. The best data source I found was this set of charts and maps showing trends in the number of cases in each state. If you are thinking of driving to visit family in another state and cases have been trending downward in each state for at least 14 days, you may feel safe about paying the visit, but if cases are growing in either state, you might delay that trip. Of course, this information depends on testing and accurate reporting from each state.

A second consideration is: What is your COVID-19 risk? There is a tool by Mathematica that will calculate your risk based on where you live, your age, pre-existing conditions, how many people you and your family are in close contact with each week, whether or not you diligently wash your hands, and if you wear PPE consistent with CDC guidelines (that last bit is odd, because the guidelines are for healthcare workers — I certainly don’t wear gloves, a gown, or a respirator).

In the United States, we’ve lived with COVID-19 for approximately six months now. It’s easy to relax our vigilance as we get used to the potential dangers, but we need to stay the course.

Note: I’m changing the frequency of my posts

When I started this blog, I was posting twice a week. That was an unsustainable pace.

Once a week has worked better for me, but I’m still feeling a bit of a time crunch. I tend to put off writing about topics that will require a lot of research in favor of posts that take me less time to pull together. In addition, my blogging time is eating into time I could devote to other writing projects.

So I’m going to try posting every other week for a while and see how that works. Hopefully freeing up some time means that I’ll be able to announce a new e-book this fall!

Categories
Something Wonderful

Looking for Something to Read? Try This Underappreciated Book.

Till We Have Faces is C.S. Lewis' retelling of the Eros and Psyche myth.
Eros and Psyche

The Chronicles of Narnia are popular for a reason, but…

In writing this, I’m not knocking C.S. Lewis’ most popular fiction. I love the Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is one of the few books to influence my dreams; I will never forget dreaming that I stepped through the wardrobe and met Aslan.

Then there’s the Space Trilogy… especially Perelandra. I love the scene in which the Un-man taunts Ransom by repeating his name, and then, when Ransom responds, the Un-man replies, “Nothing.” It’s a child’s game, yet somehow chilling.

And while it has been a long time since I’ve read The Great Divorce, I cannot forget Lewis’ depiction of Hell as a gloomy place where people keep moving further away from each other because they cannot bear each other, while Heaven is so solid that, when tourists from Hell arrive, the blades of grass cut their feet.

But I think that Lewis’ best work of fiction may be his least known.

Till We Have Faces is in a class by itself.

Lewis’ last novel, Till We Have Faces is his retelling of the myth of Eros (or Cupid) and Psyche, which had fascinated him since his youth. Instead of choosing Psyche or Eros to tell the story, he picked Psyche’s oldest sister, whom he named Orual.

From the outset, the story sounds nothing like what I usually think of as C.S. Lewis:

I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of the gods. I have no husband nor child, nor hardly a friend, through whom they can hurt me. My body, this lean carrion that still has to be washed and fed and have clothes hung about it daily with so many changes, they may kill as soon as they please. The succession is provided for. My crown passes to my nephew.

Orual: Lewis’ most developed character?

Unlike the sisters in the original myth, Orual is a sympathetic character. You understand why she encourages Psyche to look upon her husband despite his command. Poor Orual is not beautiful and, often neglected and sometimes abused by her father, is lonely much of the time. She loves Psyche as much as she can love anyone — an imperfect love, to be sure, but nonetheless a love of a sort. It’s easy to imagine yourself as Orual, embittered against gods who are largely silent and who seem capricious and cruel. Job-like, she asks, How could the gods take away the person I loved the most? Why did they not make it clear to me that her husband was a god and not something monstrous? How dare they then punish me for guessing wrongly by punishing Psyche?

Orual is not Lewis’ first strong female character. Tinidril, the Green Lady in Perelandra, has a great deal of strength in her innocence. There are several strong female characters in the Chronicles of Narnia, chief among them Lucy. But in Orual, Lewis created a woman who is strong, complex, and, because of her complexity, very real. People say that Joy Davidman helped Lewis alter his perspective on women, and when I read Till We Have Faces, I can believe it. Orual has a depth that none of his other female characters reached. In fact, I would argue she feels more real than any of his characters, male or female.

Nearly halfway through the book, Orual travels with Bardia, captain of the guards, to find and bury Psyche’s remains after she is given to the god of the Grey Mountain. They must spend the night on the mountain, where it is bitterly cold, so Bardia suggests they lie close, “back to back, the way men do in the wars.” Lewis writes:

I said yes to that, and indeed no woman in the world has so little reason as I to be chary in such matters. Yet it surprised me that he should have said it; for I did not yet know that, if you are ugly enough, all men (unless they hate you deeply) soon give up thinking of you as a woman at all.

I don’t recall anything else quite like that — so bitter, so real — from any other character in Lewis’ fiction.

Faith meets mythology

Lewis brought his faith rather overtly into all of his fiction. That’s just as true for Till We Have Faces as it is for his other books, but here it seems more subtle and nuanced. Part of that may be because he was working with an existing myth. The god of the Grey Mountain (Eros) is the son of Ungit, a strange, dark goddess who is the counterpart to Aphrodite in Glome, Orual’s birthplace. In her old age, Orual dreams that her father drags her to a mirror and asks her, “Who is Ungit?”

“I am Ungit,” she replies, just before she wakes. While she realizes that she was dreaming, Orual also believes that the dream has shown her the truth.

It was I who was Ungit. That ruinous face was mine. I was that… all-devouring womblike, yet barren, thing. Glome was a web—I the swollen spider, squat at its center, gorged with men’s stolen lives.”

A few pages later, she muses: “I was Ungit. What did it mean? Do the gods flow in and out of us as they flow in and out of each other?”

The god of the Grey Mountain is clearly a Christ figure, but with Ungit, Lewis introduces such complexity that we cannot read Till We Have Faces as a straightforward allegory. There are certainly allegorical elements, but the story is far more than that. It’s something that must be pondered and returned to, and that is part of what makes it so good.

Not a beach read, but a good read.

Till We Have Faces is a beautiful, powerful book, but I don’t recommend it for a relaxing read. While it is nowhere near as taxing as James Joyce’s Ulysses nor is it troubling like Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, it is not lightweight. Read it when you are prepared for something thoughtful. But do read it if you haven’t already.

Categories
Something Wonderful

Want to Be Inspired? Check Out Alight.

These Cambodian medics were trained by the American Refugee Committee (now Alight) not long after it was founded. (Public domain photo by Cmacauley, Wikimedia Commons)

When I wrote about Preemptive Love, I promised it was the first of a series of posts about nonprofit organizations.

It’s about time I write another post for that promised series.

This time I’d like to introduce you to Alight, formerly known as the American Refugee Committee. Alight was on my radar before its name change, but when the 2019 rebrand happened, I sat up and took notice. Given my professional background, I confess I have a hard time untangling my feelings about the rebranding from my feelings about Alight’s work. I’ll go into the rebranding at the end of this post for readers who, like me, get a little nerdy over such things.

What is Alight?

In the organization’s words, Alight builds “a meaningful life for and with the displaced. Not simply basic needs, but a life filled with joy, dignity, connection, and purpose.”

Alight is made up of several smaller organizations:

  • Kuja Kuja. Kuja Kuja recognizes that humanitarian organizations need to focus on the people they serve, not on big donors. As such, it considers refugees as its customers, asking them two questions: Were you happy with today’s service? Any ideas on how we can do better?
  • Asili. Focused on providing healthcare and other humanitarian services in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Asili rejects the notion that its customers should receive services that just meet the minimum quality standards. Instead, it seeks to meet the highest industry standards through its clinics, its water system, and its agricultural cooperatives.
  • Questscope. Questscope provides “social, educational, and entrepreneurial opportunities for marginalized youth” in places like a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. Some of its services include a mentoring program and alternative educational opportunities.
  • Changemakers 365. Changemakers 365 focuses on creating change for no more than $500 per day. This might mean providing bedding for refugees at the request of someone who works in a reception center, or setting up touch-free handwashing stations in response to COVID-19.
  • I Am A Star. This award-winning program helps rebuild Somalia through assistance provided to returning refugees and existing communities.
  • ORAM (Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration). This organization focuses on something I had never thought of before reading about their work in some of Alight’s literature: “advocating for sexual and gender minority asylum seekers and refugees fleeing persecution and violence.”

What makes Alight special?

There are a few things I particularly love about Alight.

  • Alight works with its “customers” to create programs that serve their needs. While an increasing number of humanitarian organizations are letting those they serve help guide their work, there are still far too many organizations that embrace the “savior” role, in which the organization swoops in with ideas but doesn’t consult with the people it wants to help. A customer-centered approach acknowledges that nonprofits need to listen to the people they are serving as they express their needs and share their ideas for solutions. Do they really need for you to ship in food for hungry people, or would they prefer that you buy the food you’re distributing from local farmers?
  • Alight emphasizes joy over “poverty porn.” “Poverty porn” focuses on suffering — think pictures of naked children who are clearly starving. We feel so good helping those poor children. But while poverty does cause suffering, that’s only part of the picture, and when we focus solely on suffering, we can develop an unhealthy perspective on poverty and how we fit into the picture. Alight focuses on joy and optimism as it works alongside the people it serves.
  • Alight involves supporters in all sorts of interesting ways. Before the pandemic, Alight invited people to tour its Minneapolis facilities and to attend monthly educational sessions and volunteer events. I haven’t seen many organizations that have worked so hard to provide accessible ways for supporters to do more than just write a check. I hope they will take this up again once it is safe to do so.

How you can participate in their work

  • Obviously, you can donate to support their work, whether you donate regularly, make a one-time gift, or arrange for some other donation, such as a gift of stock.
  • You can follow their work. During the pandemic, their most active channels of communication seem to be Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but they also have a presence on YouTube and LinkedIn, and their website contains a wealth of information. You can sign up to receive email from them (check out the right-hand column on their home page), but I haven’t received anything from them in a while. Of course, I have this habit of unsubscribing from email lists when I feel like too much is pouring into my inbox, so that could be the problem.
  • As I mentioned earlier, they like to involve supporters in their work, offering tours of their headquarters, events, and volunteer opportunities. Keep an eye on their site for future opportunities.

About that rebranding…

When the American Refugee Committee first announced they were changing their name to Alight, I thought they were nuts. “American Refugee Committee” clearly says something about their work (“We work with the displaced”). “Alight” could mean anything. And they owned American Refugee Committee online. Google those three words, and they come up. It’s a lot more difficult to dominate search engines with the name Alight.

But Alight had a good reason for changing their name: their customers. The people they serve don’t want the focus to be on their status as refugees. The new name refers to two meanings of the word “alight” — shining brightly and landing gently.

When they rolled out the new brand, I was impressed. Everything — from the new name to the design to the messaging — works together to portray an organization that is vibrant, optimistic, customer-centered, and forward-thinking. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed a branding campaign that has moved me as much as this has. And while they may not own the top slot on the search engines, when I search for “Alight,” they are coming up on the first page of results.

Well done, Alight.

Categories
Something Wonderful

How to Rescue Summer: The Sequel

My semication included a trip to a local nature center.

A few weeks ago, I took my own advice and faked a vacation of sorts. I called it a “semication,” because currently I have no paid vacation time. I could have rearranged my work schedule to take a week off, but I felt like I would be perfectly satisfied working for four hours and then relaxing. And I was right.

During the last few days of my vacation, I decided to share my experience on Facebook. I was surprised by the response. A number of the people who commented said they felt inspired.

So I decided to share my story here. I won’t bore you with the details of every day. I’ll just go into depth on one day and give you highlights from the others. Of course, nothing I write here is meant to be prescriptive. You might not enjoy my vacation. Instead, I hope to inspire you to think of ways you can “seize the summer.” It’s not too late.

How I made work fun during my semication

Honestly, it helps that I enjoy my job. Working half-days really wasn’t a drag. But I also put extra fun into work by listening to music and sitting outside when the weather permitted. There’s no reason not do those things more frequently, so I’ve been trying to add them to my work days now.

How I avoided chores and errands during my semication

Staycations and I have never gotten along well. There’s always work to be done at home, and I have a hard time ignoring it. I had to push myself to avoid chores during my semication.

While I didn’t avoid every scrap of housework, I did a pretty good job. Here’s how I managed:

  • I planned ahead. I’ve written before about the value of spontaneity during vacations, but if there’s ever a time to plan carefully, it’s when you’re getting ready for a staycation. If you have a hard time not doing housework while at home, you must have a plan. What will you eat? Will you use paper plates to save on washing dishes? What do you need to have on hand? A plan is also useful so that at the end of your vacation you don’t say, “Wait! Where did the time go?”
  • I started my semication on a Sunday, giving myself all day Saturday to get ready.
  • I figured out what had to be done so that I could relax during my hours off. Then I focused my attention on those things. This meant getting groceries, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, changing the sheets, and doing laundry.

One theme for my semication? Try seven!

My vacation lasted eight days, Sunday through Sunday. Seven of those days had a theme. Most days were driven by nostalgia — either for something from my past, such as visits to my grandparents in New Mexico, or something that I normally do during the summer, such as attending CONvergence. I also picked a couple of general summer themes to round out the week. My activities, food, even the clothes I wore and the music I listened to were shaped by the day’s theme.

I tried to match the theme for each day to the weather forecast, but it was a hot week with a couple of days of predicted rain, and most of my themes involved at least some time outdoors. This caught up with me toward the end of the vacation.

My Minnesota State Fair

Monday was all about the Minnesota State Fair.

Sweet Martha's cookies and "all you can drink" milk

What I ate:
It’s the fair, so food is front and center, right?

I started the day with a Peg Muffin (fried egg, sausage, tomato, and cheese on an English muffin) like they serve at The Peg, the fair’s only full-service restaurant. Lunch was the sort of sandwich I might get from The Lunch Box. (I chose that mostly because it was simple.) Afterwards I baked some Sweet Martha’s Cookies, which I accompanied with a glass of milk from the All-You-Can-Drink Milk Stand in my fridge. Dinner was Sara’s Tipsy Pies with chocolate custard for dessert.

What I wore:
I have a couple of State Fair Sins t-shirts from a campaign I created for the University of St. Thomas a few years ago, so I wore one of those.

What I listened to:
Singer-songwriter Ann Reed wrote a few songs at the State Fair, which were compiled from audience suggestions at the Minnesota Public Radio booth. I considered those required listening for the day.

What I did:
There’s a lot of the state fair that you just can’t replicate, but I did my best. I visited the Pet Pavilion (translation: I gave my dog some extra attention, including a massage). I also visited the DNR Booth, which for me meant taking a hike through a nature center.

The fun surprise:
My kid added a detail I hadn’t thought about when I planned my day. It got pretty windy during the evening, so she summoned me outside and then blew bubbles into the wind — just like the bubble blowers at the souvenir stands scattered around the fairground.

CONvergence

I planned to indulge my geeky side in a tribute to CONvergence on the first rainy day of my vacation, since none of my planned activities involved being outdoors. Instead, I reread a favorite sci-fi book, watched Mystery Science Theater 3000, and ended my day with the YogaQuest Con Cool Down.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of cramming much of the junk food I consume over a four-day convention into one day. Since we often find ourselves at Starbucks one morning during the con, I got one of their egg sandwiches for breakfast. That was fine, but then I had the sort of lunch one might put together in the consuite: seasoned rice and bread with peanut butter. In honor of another con tradition, I got hamburgers and treats from Dairy Queen for dinner. Add to that a specialty hot chocolate along the lines of what I might get from COF2E2 and toast with nutella and cinnamon sugar à la House of Toast, combined with mostly sitting around all day, and I felt sort of crummy by bedtime, even though I did have fun.

Fortunately, the next day was…

Spa Day

I couldn’t have asked for a better follow-up to my celebration of CONvergence. Spa Day was filled with healthy food, outdoor yoga, a walk, a nap, a trip to the farmers market, relaxing music, and an at-home facial. It was a perfect reset midway through my semication.

Cape May, New Jersey

When I was growing up, my family went to Cape May, New Jersey, every summer, at least for a long weekend. It’s difficult to bring the spirit of a Victorian beach town to the upper Midwest in the middle of a pandemic, even if we have lots of shoreline, but I did my best. I read a trashy novel, spent some time near water (though not water one could mistake for the ocean), wore a vintage t-shirt from Cape May, listened to what I think of as beach music, created a Cape May Pinterest board, had fried shrimp for dinner, and indulged in some fudge from the Original Fudge Kitchen, one of the places I remember from my childhood trips to the beach.

Visiting My Grandparents in New Mexico

Friday was dedicated to memories of visits to my New Mexico grandparents. I fixed an enchilada casserole recipe that my grandmother had given me years ago and also sauteed some zucchini and onions like she used to. I sent someone a postcard I still had from a past trip to New Mexico, read some Tony Hillerman, and colored a page from Wildlife of Cactus and Canyon Country. And, in honor of my grandpa’s 8-track tape of Tchaikovsky that I listened to over and over again during one trip, I listened to Tchaikovsky while I worked. I have no doubt that my sister and cousins would put together an entirely different day based on their own memories of visiting my grandparents.

Backyard Camping

I had hoped to go backyard camping over the weekend, but the weather didn’t cooperate. I still managed to do a couple of my planned activities: I got a walk in with my mom in the morning before it got too hot, and I fixed Frito pies (aka walking tacos) for dinner. Otherwise I baked and lazed around and had a wonderful day, even if it didn’t go as planned.

Summer in Alexandria, Virginia

My final day celebrated summers in Alexandria, Virginia, when I was a child and teenager. I listened to jazz, played “no rules” badminton in the backyard with my kid (a favorite game with my sister), fixed carrots sticks and deviled eggs like my mom makes to go along with a simple sandwich supper, and ended the weekend with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a movie that has nothing to do with summers in Alexandria.

What I took away from my semication

  • As I mentioned above, there’s no reason why I can’t add fun to my work days through little things like listening to music or sitting in pleasant surroundings.
  • While I love travel, I can have a wonderful time vacationing at home if I plan ahead.
  • I can have a restful vacation without taking full days off. That said, I think the key was that I sandwiched a full week of half-days between three chore-free weekend days.
  • Of course a “State Fair” themed day or a “Cape May” themed day can’t capture the real thing. I didn’t expect them to. But celebrating the things I love about certain places or memories or times of year can be enjoyable in and of itself.
  • I had such a good time, I want to take more semications in the future! Of course I will jump at the chance to travel again someday, but for now, semications at home are a great way to relax and recharge.
Categories
Make a Difference

Make the Leap From Blood Donor to Platelet Donor

Bag of platelets

Why donate platelets instead of whole blood?

Not long after I started this blog, I encouraged readers to donate blood. I stand by that post. If you are able to donate blood, it is a relatively easy and very important way to make a difference.

But if you’re already a blood donor, consider moving from whole blood to platelet donations.

Why?

  • A platelet donation provides several times more platelets than a whole blood donation — an important benefit for people who particularly need platelets, including cancer patients and people who have experienced serious injuries.
  • Platelet donors can donate up to 24 times per year. Whole blood donors have to wait 56 days between appointments.
  • Platelets have a very short shelf life (only five days, versus 35 days for whole blood), so there is a constant need for them.
  • While the American Red Cross only lets you donate plasma 13 times a year, you can sometimes combine your platelet donation with a plasma donation.

What’s donating like?

If you haven’t donated platelets but are open to considering it, my story may help you make the leap. I’m giving you the unvarnished truth, because I think it’s important for you to know all of the pros and cons before you make the decision to donate.

The Red Cross calls…

Whenever I gave blood at my local American Red Cross blood donation center, I had noticed the platelet donors across the room. These people, covered in blankets and watching television, seemed so much more committed than I was. I wondered what it would be like give a platelet donation, but it always seemed like such a big step.

Then, mere weeks after I gave a blood donation in late February, I got a call from the Red Cross. My first thought was, “Oh, no! They’ve detected the coronavirus in my blood sample.” When, instead, they told me they were calling to see if I could make a platelet donation, I said, “Oh, but I just gave blood.”

They informed me that I could donate platelets soon after a blood donation, and before I knew what I was doing, I’d made an appointment.

My first donation

My first donation didn’t go smoothly, though it wasn’t horrible. Most platelet donors give from one arm and get most of the components of their blood back in the other arm. First a needle is inserted into your “receiving” arm, and they start giving you saline fluid. The person who got me started may have been new. Whatever the reason, she picked my left arm, which I normally don’t use for donating blood, to be my “receiving” arm. Every time she started the saline up, I complained that it was stinging. She brought in a more experienced person who switched my receiving arm. That put an end to the stinging, but I had a nasty bruise. The staff also put a heating pad on that arm, which factored into a later difficulty.

For some time after the donation started, I was fine. But after a while, my lips started to tingle. This is a common reaction to a citrate solution that you receive as you get your blood back. Calcium can fix the problem, so they gave me Tums. Later my left arm started to cramp. I wanted to move it, but the heating pad made it impossible. Not long after that started bothering me, I felt the need to go to the bathroom. I toughed it out as long as I could, but in the end the discomfort got to the point where we ended my donation about 10 minutes early.

All in all, it wasn’t a great beginning, but that didn’t discourage me from wanting to try again. I didn’t have any serious issues; I just experienced some physical discomfort. When I described the experience to members of a Facebook group for platelet donors, I got some good advice (which I’ll share below) and was ready to give it another go.

My second and third attempts

Feeling ready to set up a second appointment, I called the American Red Cross, left a message, and, after they called me back a day or two later, was scheduled to donate again.

When I showed up for my appointment, they scanned my forehead with an infrared thermometer (something the Red Cross has put into place due to the pandemic). They told me my temperature was too high (99.6) and sent me home. At home I took my temperature with an oral thermometer, got a completely normal result (98.6), and felt thoroughly disgruntled. The folks in the platelet donor group suggested blasting the air conditioner on my car on the way there and requesting an oral thermometer if I was told my temperature was too high again.

I scheduled another appointment. This time they took my temperature first with the infrared scanner and then with an oral thermometer. I didn’t even have to ask. I passed that hurdle and figured I was home free. Alas. My hemoglobin was too low, which does happen to me sometimes, and I was sent home again. When the Red Cross called me for yet another appointment, I crossed my fingers, scheduled the appointment, and… was allowed to donate!

Success!

My second donation was much better. I was hooked up again to give from my left arm and receive blood back in my right arm. There was very little bruising. I had loaded up on calcium prior to the donation, and while my lips still tingled a little and I accepted Tums when they were offered to me partway through the process, I found I was much more comfortable than I had been the first time. There was no heating pad on either of my arms, so when I found my left arm was getting a little uncomfortable again, I was able to shift it just enough to be okay. And I went to the bathroom just before climbing into the donation chair, so we didn’t have to end the donation early!

After two successful attempts, do I find donating platelets as easy as donating blood? No. But it’s not a bad experience, and it’s rewarding to know that I’m making a difference. Plus I get to watch TV for a couple of hours and have a snack afterwards. It’s the little things.

Here’s what to expect, step-by-step

Some of the information I share here is specific to the pandemic, but most of it is not.

Before your appointment

Before your appointment, you will receive an email message with an invitation to use Rapid Pass. I encourage you to do it if at all possible. Rapid Pass will speed up your time in the donation center. You will be asked to review some pre-donation information, including eligibility criteria. You then will be asked a series of questions that are used to determine your eligibility. Once you have completed the required reading and the questionnaire (which doesn’t take long), you can send a bar code to your phone or print it out to take into the donation center.

First steps at the donation center

When you arrive at the blood donation center, you will need to wear a mask. You will be greeted just inside the door by a volunteer who will take your temperature. If you pass that hurdle, they will confirm your appointment. It helps to have a blood donor card that they can scan. If you need to type anything into one of their computers, they will ask you to sanitize your hands first. I automatically use the hand sanitizer anyway as soon as I’ve entered the building.

Once your appointment is confirmed, you will be sent to a waiting area with chairs that are six feet apart.

Someone will call you and usher you into a small room. They may weigh you (this happened for the first time at my most recent appointment). They will confirm your name, date of birth, and address. They’ll take your pulse and blood pressure and then will stick your finger and check your hemoglobin level. They will ask to see the insides of your arms. If you pass all of these hurdles, they will ask if you have a Rapid Pass. If you do, they may ask you a question to clarify something, and then you will read a consent form, sign it, and be ready to donate. They may ask you if you are willing to donate a unit of plasma along with your platelets. I gave plasma during my second donation and didn’t make the slightest difference in my experience.

The donation

Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to use the facilities before you get hooked up.

Once you are settled into your donation chair, they will make sure you are comfortable, help you get set up to watch something (our donation center has a bunch of DVDs as well as Netflix and some other streaming options), and then insert the needles: first the one in your receiving arm, and then the one in your giving arm. They’ll take blood samples for testing, and then your donation will begin.

You will sit for a long time. I made it through almost two one-hour episodes of The Witcher. Someone will occasionally stop by to see if you are warm enough and if you need Tums. Of course, if you have another need (like the need to shift an arm pinned down by a heating pad), that’s the time to speak up.

After the donation

At the end of your donation, they will take the needles out one at a time, placing a cotton ball and tape over the needle site, and then putting a wrap over that. They will instruct you to remove the wrap bandage in an hour and to clean your arm with soap and water. You should keep the cotton ball and tape on for about six more hours. I’ve found that sometimes when I remove that after the six hours are up, I ooze just a little blood, so I have a small bandage ready in case that happens.

You will be encouraged to sit in the canteen for a while and have a snack before going home. My donation center has spaced tables and chairs at least six feet apart for the time being.

My last donation took approximately two hours and 15 minutes from the time I stepped through the door to the time I walked out of the canteen.

Make your donation easier with these tips and tricks

  • If you tend to have low hemoglobin levels, take supplements and eat high-iron foods prior to your donation. This can make a difference between a successful donation and being turned away.
  • Load up on calcium before the appointment. Platelet donors on Facebook advised me to start taking Tums a few days before the donation, including just before I left home to donate, and to have a milkshake the night before. (What a great excuse for a milkshake!) Unfortunately, calcium hinders iron-absorption, so don’t take iron with calcium or have your milkshake with a hamburger.
  • Milkshake aside, make sure you are having relatively low-fat meals at least a day prior to your donation. Fats can mess up the results of tests that are run on your blood, making your donation unusable.
  • Drink plenty of fluids before and after your donation, but stop drinking fluids two hours before the donation, and don’t have any caffeinated beverages the morning of your donation.
  • Check to see if you need to bring a blanket. My local donation center has told me that they are limiting blankets to one per person, although last time they put two heated blankets on me — one on each arm — in addition to my own blanket.
  • Your donation center should have sterilized headphones for you, but if you’d prefer to bring your own, don’t forget to pack those.
  • Dress warmly. I admit I run cold, but most people seem to get chilly when lying around for nearly two hours donating.
  • Speak up if you’re uncomfortable. If I’d mentioned my arm cramps during my first appointment, someone could have helped me.
  • Plan not to do any heavy lifting after your donation. Don’t promise someone you’ll help them move or put off your strength training until the evening!

What else can I do if I don’t want to give platelets?

Not everyone who is eligible to donate blood can or wants to give platelets, and that’s a good thing. There is always a need for other blood components including, of course, whole blood. Here are some of the ways you can help:

  • Make a whole blood donation. This can be used as is or separated into its components.
  • Make a Power Red donation. This donation allows you to give more red blood cells, the most frequently used component of whole blood donations. Power Red donations take a little longer than a whole blood donation but less time than a platelet donation. You can only make Power Red donations three times a year. Weight requirements for donors, particularly female donors, are higher than they are for other types of donations, and there are height requirements, too.
  • If you are type AB, make an AB Elite plasma donation. AB plasma can be given to people of any blood type and is highly in demand. AB Elite donors can give 13 times a year. Your donation will take only slightly longer than a whole blood donation.
  • If you have recovered from COVID-19, consider donating plasma to help those who are very sick.
Categories
Something Wonderful

Anime for Odd People: Nichijou

Would your friends and family use any of the following words to describe you: weird, quirky, wacky, zany, goofy, odd, kooky, eccentric? Are you not above watching an animated show?

It’s time to check out Nichijou, or My Ordinary Life.

I’ve watched (and recommended) comedy anime before. But Nichijou is unlike anything else that I’ve seen. Each 24-minute episode is made up of a series of shorter stories about recurring characters, including school-age friends Yuuko, Mio, and Mai, and an eight-year-old scientist, Hakase (literally “Professor”), who lives with her robot creation, Nano. A few stories continue from episode to episode, but overall each episode can stand alone.

Here are just a few of the things that make Nichijou so delightfully odd…

Mai

Yuuko, Mio, and Mai all have their quirks, but Mai is over-the-top quirky. She has a strange, slightly evil sense of humor and delivers her pranks, many of which are directed at poor Yuuko, with a completely deadpan expression.

This isn’t one of my favorite clips featuring Mai, and I would prefer to share a version in Japanese with subtitles, but it gets the point across:

Nano and Hakase

As perhaps the most serious character in the show, Nano wants to be thought of as human, a desire that Hakase willfully disregards. Hakase and Nano have an odd relationship: Hakase is brilliant, but she acts like the eight-year-old she is, leaving Nano to play the role of parent to her creator. Hakase constantly wheedles Nano for sweets and at one point even modifies her to dispense desserts. She also lacks empathy for Nano’s desire to hide her robot identity. The Nano-Hakase segments have a tinge of sadness not present in the rest of the anime, giving the show a depth it would otherwise lack.

Koujirou Sasahara

One of the minor characters, Koujirou Sasahara is a classmate to Yuuko and her friends. The child of farmers, he has styled himself as an aristocrat. He adds a jabot to his school uniform, rides a goat to school, and is often attended by a butler. Another classmate, Misato Tachibana, has a crush on him, which she covers by shooting him with heavy weapons. This is a part of the anime that may not go over well with an American audience — although these “shootings” are merely cartoon violence, we’ve had so many school shootings that I found myself disturbed whenever Misato pulled a gun out of nowhere.

You’ll see glimpses of Koujirou and Misato in the intro to the show.

Buddy

Buddy is a dog that melts my heart. When Yuuko is upset about something, he often appears to place a paw on her for comfort. It gets me every time.

The Bizarre Interludes Between the Main Segments

Each episode of Nichijou is made up of segments featuring recurring characters, but in between those are unrelated interludes. In one recurring interlude, two men whose heads are encased in daifuku turn a jump rope for various characters.

Another segment, “Short Thoughts,” ranges from serious, relatable observations…

… to completely random statements.

Finally, there’s “Helvetica Standard,” short stories that are in a different style from the rest of the anime.

I’ve only glossed the surface of the weirdness that is Nichijou. But where I just saw bizarre humor that appealed to me, one scholarly work saw much more. While I was doing research for this post, I ran across an excerpt from Kyoto Animation: A Critical Study and Filmography. The book devotes several pages to Nichijou, arguing that “the orchestration of the show’s dramatic fragments appears to be governed by a pervasive sense of randomness whose ultimate objective is to throw into relief–in a jovial yet uncompromising fashion–the fundamental absurdity of human life.” So if you won’t watch this anime because I’m recommending it, do it to see if you agree that it expresses an absurdist philosophy.

If you’re ready to watch, you can currently find Nichijou on Funimation. You’ll need a subscription to watch the whole thing, but you can watch the first few episodes for free.

Categories
Make a Difference

Inspire Yourself With This Playlist

Do you use music for inspiration or to pump yourself up for something? I do.

Here’s a playlist to inspire and encourage you as you work to make a difference in the world. It includes songs that can spur self-reflection and music that can help you feel more powerful and ready to tackle difficult problems. Take the ones that resonate with you and add your own favorites to create a playlist to listen to as often you need it.

Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil

“How do we sleep while our beds are burning?”

Midnight Oil wrote this song to protest white Australians’ treatment of Aboriginal Australians. Although this song is about something very specific that may seem far-removed from your life, the chorus speaks to any injustice we may feel called to confront.

Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell

“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone?
They paved paradise,
Put up a parking lot.”

Here’s a song to inspire us to appreciate and protect what we have — particularly the beauty of nature.

Boys Will Be Boys – Dua Lipa

“If you’re offended by this song
Then you’re probably sayin’:
‘…Boys will be boys.'”

This song also addresses a specific issue: sexual harassment.

“Boys Will Be Boys” brings out a lot of emotions when I listen to it. I think about how I had to change my route to and from my junior high school not once but twice due to sexual harassment, and I’m angry at myself for just accepting that as reality. I also think about how betrayed I felt when someone told me that he’d purchased this shirt as a statement against people who were upset when a space scientist wore the shirt to work. It may be “just a shirt,” but it’s beyond me how anyone could think it is work-appropriate. I know I would have felt very uncomfortable interacting — as a peer, a supervisor, or a direct report — with anyone wearing it.

When will we stop saying “boys will be boys?”

Hammer and a Nail – Indigo Girls

“A distant nation my community,
A street person my responsibility.
If I have a care in the world, I have a gift to bring.”

This song presents us with a clear call to action: We cannot simply focus on our own lives or spend all of our time thinking about problems without doing something about them. We must act.

Is She With You? – Hans Zimmer

I could have chosen any of a number of songs instead of this one. Simply put, if you have a favorite movie (or television) superhero, one you think is kickass, pick a song that represents that hero, and add it to your playlist for those times when you need to feel a little more powerful. This is Wonder Woman’s theme song, first appearing in Batman v. Superman. I could have just as easily picked Fox and Gimbel’s “Wonder Woman” or The Avengers theme by Alan Silvestri, among many “superhero” themes. What, if anything, would you choose?

Living for the City – Stevie Wonder

“I hope you hear inside my voice of sorrow
And that it motivates you to make a better tomorrow.”

Stevie Wonder’s 1973 classic “Living for the City” explores racism that we still need to address decades later.

Love… Thy Will Be Done – Martika

“No longer can I resist your guiding light,
That gives me the power to keep up the fight.”

This song, written by Prince, is clearly religious and could be read solely in terms of “Have your way with me, God.” But what if “thy will be done” calls us to some sort of action?

Man in Black – Johnny Cash

“Oh, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day
And tell the world that everything’s O.K.
But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back.
‘Til things are brighter, I’m the man in black.”

Sometimes I hear someone talking about harsh realities and calling us to make a change, and I think, “That’s a prophetic voice.” The prophetic spirit is less about the future than it is about speaking hard truths concerning the present. What truth must we tell today?

Pastures of Plenty – Solas

“California, Arizona, I’ve worked on your crops,
And northward up to Oregon to gather your hops,
I’ve dug beets from the ground, I’ve cut grapes from the vine
To set on your table that white sparkling wine.”

This lively cover of a Woody Guthrie song always forces me to stop and think about the cheap labor I benefit from. If I can keep that in mind, then I can vote and act in ways that place greater value on the work of others.

Proud – Heather Small

“What have you done today to make you feel proud?”

This is another song that isn’t directly about making a difference, but it can be used as inspiration. While the song can be about any human achievement, if there’s anything that can make a person feel proud, it’s striving for something bigger than oneself.

Stand – Rascal Flatts

“You get mad, you get strong,
Wipe your hands, shake it off,
Then you stand.”

I confess I don’t have a lot of appreciation for country music, and I’d never heard this song before I decided to write this blog post. But I felt like my original playlist wasn’t long enough, so I started looking for songs about making a difference or feeling strong. In the course of my research, I ran across this one, and it fits the bill. If we want to work toward changing the world, we have learn to get back on our feet when we’d rather just give up.

Notice any similarities between this video and the Indigo Girls video above?

The Trouble With Normal – Bruce Cockburn

“‘It’ll all go back to normal if we put our nation first.’
But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse.”

This song is from 1983. I’ll repeat that: This song is from 1983. It’s eerily applicable to today. Let’s fight to make it sound foreign to our ears.

The Way It Is – Bruce Hornsby & The Range

“That’s just the way it is.
Some things will never change.
That’s just the way it is.
Ah, but don’t you believe them.”

In 1986, Bruce Hornsby reflected on poverty and racism in the U.S. Unfortunately, we still need songs like this.

You Gotta Be – Des’ree

“All I know, all I know
Love will save the day.”

This is another song that I’m sure wasn’t written specifically to motivate people to make a difference (except, perhaps, in their own lives), but its lyrics can inspire you to approach problems from a position of strength.

Your Life Is Now – John Mellencamp

“Would you teach your children to tell the truth?
Would you take the high road if you could choose?
Do you believe you’re a victim of a great compromise?
‘Cause I believe you could change your mind and change our lives.”

What good will you do with this life you have been given?

Yes. the video is weird.

Note: I’m giving myself a mini-vacation and won’t publish a blog post next week. My next post will be on July 27.