What Harry Taught Me

Four hours or so ago I updated Facebook and said I believe in the importance of second chances.

It was made in reference to my going to see Star Wars, The Last Jedi again because I was disappointed the first time and since my parents hadn’t seen it I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try again.

The funny thing about it is the second time around I was even more disappointed and not just because so many people said they couldn’t understand why I didn’t think it was amazing.

It is not just that I didn’t like what they did with Luke but that I found too many holes and issues. I couldn’t get beyond how the rebellion went from major success to incredible failure and thought they screwed the pooch with their big bad villain.

They set him up to be exceptional and turned him into a kook who should have fought Adam West’s Batman.

*****

Anyhoo, I find myself in a funny position of feeling exceptionally frustrated but supremely confident that all that has ticked me off will pass.

It is a giant contradiction that I have experienced in the past and one that reminds me of lessons learned from music.

This particular moment is brought to you by Harry Chapin’s WOL*D or maybe I ought to say it is brought to me and shared with you.

I probably first heard it when I was around 12 and have listened to it a million times but it is really only now that I feel like I get it or that I see it as a song about second chances.

Here is a section that always gets me.

Sometimes I get this crazy dream
That I just take off in my car
But you can travel on ten thousand miles and still stay where you are
I’ve been thinking that I should stop disk jockeying
And start that record store
Maybe I could settle down if you’d take me back once more

Wash And Repeat

When my children were little we made a point to teach them to identify what was bothering them. It was important to me for them to be able to say they were sad, angry or whatever so that they could try to figure out how to fix it.

Yeah, I know you can’t fix everything and that sometimes the best you can do is accept it is going to take time to pass through particular situations.

But I also know there are times where we find ourselves in challenging moments and the only way to get through is to figure out what bothers us and to see what sort of solutions exist.

Ask me what I am irritated about now and I can tell you it is the wash and repeat feel of a particular situation.

It is feeling like I have been here more than once and in spite of my best efforts to avoid visiting it again it has come back to spend time with me.

The good news is I know most it not all has nothing to do with me and that I learned my lesson the last time but it didn’t stop it from happening again.

Nor has it lessened my desire to make like the DJ in the song and drive 10,000 miles. But what I learned from Harry so very long ago is there no point in doing so.

This isn’t going to disappear or go away if I do that so I won’t.

Hell, it has my full attention and maybe that is where the supreme confidence of the beginning comes from.

Maybe it is knowing I am paying attention and will handle this that makes me smile because it is temporary.

Funny Visitors

There have been some funny visitors here lately and I have wondered what these people want and or are looking for.

Might be nothing, maybe they just like the way these words roll off of the page…or maybe not.

I have blocked a few of them because the old spidey sense went off and I didn’t want them stealing my content.

That is not full proof and the reality is that there always ways to access content posted online.

Doesn’t matter if you block people here, Facebook, LinkedIn or anywhere else that you post content ‘cuz there are ways to access it.

Most of the time I just don’t care and figure whatever, but every now and then that aforementioned sense makes me wonder if maybe I ought to let them know where they stand with me.

I’d write more about what Harry taught me and even tie in some lyrics from Taxi but the phone is ringing, email is dinging and the clock says I am close to not getting enough sleep at all.