Some Things Are Uplifting!

There really are some things that are Uplifting in our world despite the best efforts of Politics and Greedy Corporations to dampen our outlook. These past two weeks I mostly tuned out the News and Views and chose instead Uplifting stories that touched me. So, here goes . . .

. . . apparently Twitter is imploding Big Time! Elon Musk can’t seem to get it together! But, don’t you worry, people! Zuckerberg stepped in Big Time, and, apparently, Threads is rubbing Musk’s nose in his self-made muck! Quite an interesting and amusing war of the social media gods taking place! On this note, I found out from a friend that my terrific all-American son was on Threads and that he had posted a tribute, with a family picture, to us, his parents. He wrote:

“My father passed 10 years ago today. This photo, 1980 in Italy, would be the last family trip we’d take for a long time. Refugees of war, we found stability the next year in America’s arms. For all I’ll never understand about my parents’ experiences, they got me (the little guy on his Mom’s lap) to the United States is something I will be eternally grateful for. America should always remain welcoming to those seeking her shores of opportunity.”

To which I responded on our family messaging: “And, maybe when one day my son finds me in Guantanamo due to my constant bitching about the US he can bail me out for contributing an excellent example of a citizen to this country!” We all had a good Uplifting laugh about this! However, it also made me go back in time to when I was a young adult, not having set foot in the United States yet, and who was totally convinced of everything this country stood for: its Constitution, Bill of Rights, Government, System of Voting and its Democracy. I swallowed it all hook, line and sinker! And, despite everything, I still tear up when I hear: “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” even though from the war on Vietnam and up to the war on Iraq, and now Ukraine, I have been experiencing the slow and painful unravelling of all my beliefs regarding this Democracy. Sad!

Once in a while though, the US Democratic System pleasantly surprises me. As an Uplifting Example: the two Tennessee Representatives, Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, two young activists who were protesting our disgraceful gun laws and the violence they are causing and who got ousted from the Tennessee House of Representatives for that reason. There was a third courageous protester, Gloria Johnson, who was Not Expelled! The gall, racism and arrogance of those Old, White GOP Men who made the decision to oust the two African-American activists, but not the third White Woman  incensed me, as well as millions of people across the country. The fact that public pressure eventually succeeded in reinstating them is a feat that brought tears to my eyes! Moreover, that they recently won their seats back in a special reelection is simply terrific! I was about to jump into the TV and give them both a bear-hug. Such occurrences, aside from being truly Uplifting, confirm what I have always maintained: that at the end of the day, the American People do make moral, just and correct decisions. How amazing is that?!

Another Uplifting story was that of Henrietta Lacks who died at a young age in 1951 of ovarian cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital and who’s cells were harvested and used without her or her family’s permission to study and experiment with leading to hundreds of medical breakthroughs, including the Polio Vaccine! Recently, though, and after a lawsuit, there was a settlement in favor of the Lacks family! Justice was served! Finally!

More Uplifting news was that of Taylor Swift who after her recent very successful concerts handed out 50 Million Dollars – yes, 50 million! – to various members of her support staff. I was floored! What an immensely generous act that brought so much happiness to so many! Wow what an incredibly awesome role-model she is! Uplifting! Respect!

And then, Simone Biles triumphantly made a comeback to Gymnastics since having left that sport in 2021 to attend to her mental health issues. She became an inspirational icon for all of us who cheered for her then, and who are cheering even more now! What a fabulous example to millions of young athletes and women not only as a gymnast, but as someone who admitted that even the most successful of us sometimes face adversity! Truly Incredible!

The death of the Irish avant-garde icon and protest singer Sinead O’Conner, at the young age of 56, was extremely sad. On August 1st., Amy Goodman of Democracy Now interviewed Jamie Manson of Catholics for Choice, and Allyson McCabe a music journalist who spoke of Sinead’s life, her trials and tribulations, as well as her contributions, and, who lamented the fact that she did not get to witness the outpouring of love and tributes that came only after her passing. She was, undoubtedly, a wonderful and Uplifting example for having an incredible moral compass! The fact that she tore up the Pope’s picture on an SNL episode in October of 1992 in order to draw attention to the gross abuses of the Catholic Church was a courageous break-through moment! And the fact that she dared speak of the Palestinian People when that was a taboo was even more astounding! RIP Sinead!

There are many more Uplifting People and Events in our sad world, despite how dangerously and irresponsibly many of those in Power are behaving all over the Planet for they have placed Profits and Blatant Greed over People, and War over Peace! Most Humans I speak to are Exhausted, Demoralized and Angry! This has to End. That’s why it is my fervent hope that the American People, collectively, will, at the end of the day, make the Moral and Just Choices again by opting to uphold this fragile Democracy rather than only looking through their ideological, tribal, or religious self-serving narrow lens. Let’s hope so!