Empathy on the Spectrum
Also, beautiful Puerto Rico, a Margo Guryan tribute, let the kids play, and enjoying every sandwich
Hola mi gente,
If post-election has your heart feeling sad, I don’t blame you. I too had hoped our country would do better this time around. But then I heard Stephen Colbert say, “You are not alone.” And I watched Jeff Tweedy sing, “Be not so fearful,” in his pajama pants. I started to feel a little better and I hope you’re finding ways to feel better too.
Here are 5 things I thought were worth sharing:
While I’m angry and disheartened by the the election results, I’m trying to find a way to move forward constructively. Last week I learned about the Constructive Dialogue Institute, an organization that seeks to foster civic engagement and dialogue across the political divide. So, I wrote a post about how showing empathy to one another, even to those who have different political views than us, might be a first step toward combating the deep polarization we face as a country.
You may have heard what the comedian said about Puerto Rico at the Trump rally that took place in Madison Square Garden on October 27. I wanted to share some resources that say otherwise. Puerto Rico Strong is a “comics anthology that explores what it means to be Puerto Rican and the diversity that exists within that concept, from today’s most exciting Puerto Rican comics creators.” Since Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017, all sales of the book have gone to support ongoing relief efforts. La Brega is a podcast from WNYC Studios that looks at the history and music of Puerto Rico. There are both English and Spanish versions of each episode. From the website:
There’s no direct translation of “la brega” in English, but for Puerto Ricans, it’s a way of life. To bregar means to struggle, to hustle, to find a way to get by and get around an imbalance of power. It’s got a creative edge, a bit of swagger; as Puerto Rican scholar Arcadio Diaz has observed, it’s a word that belongs to the underdog.
A good example of “la brega” comes from Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, who released El Apagón - Aquí Vive Gente (click on CC for English subtitles) — part music video, addressing the challenge of constant power outages while celebrating the pride of being Puerto Rican, and part documentary, addressing the dual problems of foreign real estate investments on the island and the reduction of public beach access. For further reading on the beautiful complexities of Puerto Rico, as often revealed through Bad Bunny’s music, check out The Bad Bunny Syllabus.
I love seeing lines of influence in music and how even just one song can have a big impact on the trajectory of an artist’s career. I wasn’t aware of who Margo Guryan was until earlier this week. Originally a jazz artist, she started making breezy psychedelic pop music after discovering the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” Brian Wilson’s work, going further back, was profoundly influenced by the Ronettes’ song “Be My Baby.” The Wikipedia page for “Be My Baby” even has a section dedicated to Wilson’s obsession with the song. Today (Nov. 8) marks the third anniversary of Margo Guryan’s death. A tribute album entitled Like Someone I Know was just released in her honor and features a collection of songs covering her 1968 album Take a Picture. It’s a soothing listen for times such as these, like salve on a wound.
My mom was a Kindergarten teacher and a huge supporter of just letting kids play. If I think back to when I was a kid, much has changed. The motto nowadays seems to be “Keep kids safe at the expense of letting them explore and create.” This is not the case in other parts of the world — take the playgrounds in Europe, for example. The book Free to Learn and the Free-Range Kids website also provide good information on why unstructured free play is so important to child development. A friend of mine recently shared this video on Facebook and it instantly brought me back to my childhood days of freely cruising the streets of my neighborhood with friends. The Instagram account 1000hoursoutside highlights the many benefits of letting kids explore the outdoors through this type of play. Today, as kids have less unstructured playtime outside and more structured playtime that’s dictated by their busy schedules, adults may be losing out as well. The article “What Adults Lost When Kids Stopped Playing in the Street” makes a compelling case for why we have lost our connection with one another and how we might regain it. And lest we forget, play is important for us as adults too. If we have forgotten, the cartoonist Lynda Barry says that kids can help us.
I was fortunate to meet a new friend here in Grenada, who happens to be from Sandwich, Massachusetts. As you might guess, police officers in Sandwich drive around cars labeled “Sandwich Police.” I love sandwiches and thanks to the great musician Warren Zevon, eating a good sandwich always serves as a reminder to be grateful for my moments. While discussing his terminal cancer diagnosis with David Letterman, Zevon famously said of life, “You’re supposed to enjoy every sandwich.” Warren Zevon died on September 7, 2003 and the following year a tribute album entitled Enjoy Every Sandwich was released in his honor. And now’s as good a time as any to start listening to Warren Zevon if you haven’t before. Besides the tribute album, Genius is a good place to start. And finally, please, make yourself a delicious sandwich and enjoy it this week!
Thank you all for reading! I hope you found some inspiration for today’s moments, whatever they might be. If you enjoyed reading, go ahead and click subscribe to receive future newsletters.
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Be well and I hope to see you down the road sometime soon!
Eric
