Crazy

Patsy Cline had that great song “Crazy.” She didn’t know that half of it.

Funny there are many ways the word “crazy” can and is used. How we feel it, when we are it, when it takes over. To say we are living in a crazy time right now is an understatement. It is amazing when you talk to people and everyone can agree we have never seen most of this before. Covid-19 notwithstanding, there is some crazy stuff going on out there.

I had a busy week. I started another new job. This is good gig, 8-5, weekends off. But I am lost. It’s an office job, and the girls I am working with are fantastic, the whole place is great, really. They have been welcoming, nice and helpful, and the never ending parade of food in that place is going to make FIRE Fitness a ton of money keeping me from becoming what I once was!! But yeah, I don’t know too much. When I was in school, in the 80s, computer classes were optional, and there was no internet. So my computer skills are kind of seriously lacking. I can get on Facebook, and I can buy stuff online. So the ladies are having a lot of entertainment value with me, not knowing a copy and paste from a right click and drag. I will learn it, but I seriously have never had to navigate a spread sheet while pouring a margarita for someone. I better tell the boss to give the girl training me a raise and hazard pay. As things progress, I am sure I will have entertaining stories to share. For sure!

It was kind of a crazy week personally too. It isn’t really my story to tell, so I won’t say too much, but a good friend lost her mom this week. She had been in declining health for some time, and she made her own decision to stop the care and die peacefully, which she did yesterday. I got an opportunity to see her the other day, she asked for me to stop over. As sad as an experience as death is, this was a beautiful experience for me. To visit for a little bit, and wish her well on her journey, what a blessing. And as Forrest Gump would say, that’s all I have to say about that.

This week’s Cherry on top of the Crazy Sundae is the evolving story of George Floyd’s death, the protests and riots that have been going on, and the completely inept way our “president” is handling things. I don’t really know how to talk about all of it, the story is constantly evolving, and the narrative shifts depending on who is holding the talking stick. This has grown bigger than I can keep up with, and I promise I am trying to understand on many levels what people are not only thinking, but what they are feeling.

I am searching my heart, and asking it and God how to best support the people I know personally who are feeling this the most. I have a lot of friends, white friends, that have mixed race children. I don’t think much of it usually, it’s just who they are. But I think about them during this, and think of how much anxiety they must feel worrying about their children. Every parent worries about their child. But when a child looks racially different from their parent, people make some pretty serious judgements. A few friends have adopted children of color as well, or kids from other countries, and they get a lot of this too. They have unique worries and concerns too, and they get the stares and the inappropriate questions when they are out as a family. I worry for them, and the challenges they have to face as a family. This is life, we do not all look the same, but we can bond and be a family with anyone if we open our heart and lead by the example of love. I want any of my friends in these situations to know I am aware of the challenges because of the things you have told me. I learned by listening, and it has helped my heart and mind a great deal. Thank you, and please know I see you.

I can keep going on and on, and I think I may approach some of this again, on a separate post. But one last “crazy” I want to address, which may not jive well with some of my right leaning friends, is the crazy that currently occupies the White House. I am no fan of D. Trump, and everyone who knows me already is aware of that. Long before his political aspirations I thought he of him as a joke. A creep with money and an over inflated ego, and nothing that has happened in 3 and a half years in a respected office have changed that opinion, only added to it, and made me even more sure that he is mentally ill. The comments he made yesterday, trying to tie George Floyd into the news that job growth had improved, saying it was a good day for George Floyd, showed how out of touch with reality he is. The photo stunt earlier in the week was a big red flag, but this comment was beyond tone deaf. I don’t like talking politics, I am not well versed enough in any of it to make intelligent arguments beyond the idea that too many of the politicians we have are crooks. But this guy? He is a child, a spoiled rotten child that has no business playing in the biggest sandbox in the world. He is an embarrassment, and he needs to shut up.

I hit a pretty broad shot at the crazy spectrum here today, and Crazy has many nuances to hit. A little crazy can be good for you, if you know what I mean. But be careful around it. Be thoughtful and aware of where it lives in your life. I want good for all of us, I really do. I try to live my life in a way that my heart can be open to anyone that has love and kindness as their guide. It isn’t always easy, but living with a dark and closed heart never ends well for anyone. If any of my people need to reach out just to have that conversation, please do. We have enough divide, it is time to bridge gaps, and lead with love.