Category Archives: songs I like

Imagine a Good Day

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This week, as the news of the world continues to explode with more violent conflict and division, it is difficult to stave off feelings of despondency and gloom. I want to do something, but it’s difficult to know what “I” can do to counter the situation. 

Every morning after walking my dog, Pepper, I check email and read or listen to the news while she has her breakfast. This morning, my favorite blogger, Maria Popova, re-posted a piece from her archives about autumn, my favorite season. I share that here, because the post and its references to the writings of Collette, another personal favorite, has given me something to grasp onto.

The weather has seeded our earliest myths, inspired some of our greatest art, and even affects the way we think. In our divisive culture, where sharped-edged differences continue to fragment our unity, it is often the sole common ground for people bound by time and place — as we move through the seasons, we weather the whims of the weather together.

Marginalian

The weather, yes, most certainly. In the elevator in and out of my building, chatting about the weather is usually the go-to for passing the time between the ground and 3rd floor where I get off. And, autumn is my favorite season. The end of oppressive heat and the beginning of a rousing, inspirational chill, not to mention, a reason to wear comfy sweatshirts and sweaters.

But for me, in my everyday life, it is art and literature and music and, to some degree, team sports that help me stay hopeful. Yesterday was a good day. Perfect weather for being outdoors. Pepper and I had an event at UArts,  where she was the therapy dog for students at their first Wellness Wednesday of the semester. Bringing comfort to young prospective artists is one way that I can contribute. I don’t know who said it first, but I believe that Art is one of the few things left for me that is worth doing in some way, shape, or form. 

After leaving the student center, Pepper and I wandered around the city. I picked up some lunch and ate it at Seger Dog Park at 10th and Rodman Streets while Pepper sniffed around and played with the other dogs. We left there to walk west of Broad, then sat for a while at a fountain in the square where South Street intersects with Grays Ferry Avenue. It was late afternoon, so a few moms with small children, just out of pre-school, enjoyed frozen yogurt from Igloo. Pepper and a dog up for adoption, from the nearby Doggie Style and Saved Me Rescue, got free pumpkin yogurt pup cups. On the way home we stopped at Pure, a dog-friendly plant store, then at our favorite bar to watch the first few innings of the Phillies game. (They played a great, high-scoring game winning 10-2!)

Over the course of the day I encountered no negativity and had very pleasant interactions and conversations with people in Philadelphia, many of whom I’ve never met before. It gives me hope for humanity. And yet, I almost feel guilty when I have such a good day, while others are suffering.

I think of John Lennon, whose birthday was just a few days ago, October 9. I think of the song and the album Imagine from the early 1970’s to counter the suffering in late 2023. I try not to cry. On the John Lennon website, Anthony De Curtis, coincidentally local to Philadelphia, writes about the song.

… “Imagine,” too, is not merely a pastel vision of a utopian world. It is a challenge and a responsibility, a sentiment akin to Mahatma Gandhi’s statement that “We need to be the change we wish to see in the world.”

John Lennon. Gimme Some Truth.

I am a little person pushing 70 trying to maintain a smile while walking around the city with my little old dog Pepper, who gives joy to people wearing her Phillies shirt, receiving pets, and licking hands. I hope we are being the change.

N.B. When I provide links it is to share what I believe is good writing or other works of art worthy of the time it takes to read and view. It is also to give credit for the purposes of authorship and to support organizations and their causes, as well as small businesses, especially those that are women- and minority-owned.

Won’t Back Down

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October 6 would have been my dog Rufus’ birthday. He died in 2015, just a few days before his 11th birthday. I was devastated. After 15 years of being a “dog mom,” I was without. The year before we lost my beloved Rosey, who had been my first dog and who lived with me from when she was just 12 weeks old. When she came into my life I had just turned 45, decidedly single and childless, Rosey became the center of my home life. After lots of love and dedicated training, Rosey was, not only a close companion, she brought joy to many as a therapy dog. Within the next five years, I had acquired two cats and then adopted Rufus, who had been through 3 owners before coming to live with us. But, our little family of humans and pets fell apart from 2014 to 2015 as Rosey, then Rufus, then Serena, the cat, all died within the space of a year.

This date is also significant for other reasons. It falls in the first week of October, which since 1990 has been designated Mental Illness Awareness Week in the US. Just a few months before Rufus died I had decided I would try to forgo the anti-depressant medication that I’d been taking for close to 15 years. I thought that the years of meditation practice would be sufficient to keep my mental health stable. I realized this was a mistake when soon after losing him I had a panic attack at work, literally shaking and crying during a fairly important meeting. I refilled my prescription, doubled down on my commitment to meditating, and adopted another rescue dog, Pepper. Since the rescue group knew very little about Pepper other than that she was around 3 years old and her owner had died, I’ve given her Rufus’ birthday. I came through a difficult year relatively well. Two years later, we are celebrating Rufus and Pepper’s birthday with a quiet weekend.

This year, 2017, this first week of October has seen another horrific scene of mass murder in Las Vegas, the largest in recent American history. Not to mention, the incident has occurred on the heels of two natural disasters that hit the country, hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Last night Saturday Night Live honored Tom Petty, whose death this same week at 66 of cardiac arrest surprised a generation of music lovers, people inspired by his music. A performance of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from 1979 was broadcast. Then the newest episode of SNL opened with Jason Aldean, who was on stage in Vegas when the shots rang out, performing Petty’s I Won’t Back Down. A perfect choice.

Well, I won’t back down
No, I won’t back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won’t back down

No, I’ll stand my ground
Won’t be turned around
And I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down
Gonna stand my ground

And I won’t back down
(I won’t back down)
Hey, baby, there ain’t no easy way out
(I won’t back down)
Hey, I will stand my ground
And I won’t back down

Well I know what’s right

I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around

But I’ll stand my ground

And I won’t back down
(I won’t back down)
Hey, baby, there ain’t no easy way out
(I won’t back down)

Another storm, Nate, made landfall in the South. Here, in Glenside, PA, just some rain and clouds. All of this comes to my mind now on this rainy Sunday. I feel like I need to make something of it, though I am not sure what that is.

For now, I can only go about what needs to be done to maintain my ordinary life. Ask Alexa to play music by Tom Petty, while I clean up the kitchen, finish the laundry, grade assignments for my First-Year Seminar, and plan for classes coming up. Take Pepper for a walk later. Brush Diego, the cat. I’m so sad for those who have experienced such disastrous circumstances in the past few weeks. I wish them the courage to stand their ground, to not back down, to know that the human spirit is strong and resilient, there ain’t no easy way out, but a sense of balance can be realized. I so appreciate my little life as it is; it has it’s own ordinary grace. And I won’t back down.