In the land of neurolinguistic programming, where I’ve been known to hang out, my name tag would read:
Primary Kinesthetic with strong Auditory/Digital backup.
Translation: My go-to information processing system is based in feelings and movement. My next strategy is words.
(There are also people in the world who go first or second to visual information. I’m still learning that one!)
I wouldn’t be surprised if you were quietly wondering why I was telling you all this head trippy stuff when Texas is only barely thawing out and chunks of an airplane fell on suburban Denver and nobody can figure out how many doses of Covid vaccine there are, let alone whether – and how – to actually go about getting, you know, vaccinated.
There are two main reasons, I suppose. One is a larger than optimal dose of CNN. It seems the only thing my inner wisdom finds worse than being utterly overwhelmed with news is not knowing what’s happening. Who knows? It may actually be my Inner Critic trying to distract me from making art!
The second is the notion of vested interest. Why do I care?
And through all the pondering there is a fairly continuous loop of Dr. Seuss’s classic, If I Ran the Zoo.
Remember the auditory/digital thing I mentioned a minute ago? Well, it’s the reason that, despite not having encountered an actual copy of this childhood favorite since Dave was younger than my girls are now, I can still hear huge chunks of it in my head. Here’s the punchline:
But if I ran the zoo, said young Gerald McGrew, I’d make a few changes, that’s just what I’d do.
I’m with Gerald McGrew.
In fact, I might go so far as to suggest that young Gerald has changed his name to Joe Biden and finds himself faced with a zoo of epic proportions and some disagreement, shall we say, about just what needs to be changed.
This is complicated by the observation that last guy who ran the zoo doesn’t seem to have gotten the message that there’s a new zoo keeper in town.
In the meantime, here in the part of the zoo known as Georgia, I’ve been spending a lot of time and energy trying to help the critters in favor of voting rights get a lot more notice than they may have had lately.
Someone’s intern actually asked me why.
At this point, the zoo metaphor is in danger of falling a bit short, though the rhythm – the anapestic tetrameter Seuss was famous for – seems still to be running loose in my head.
Here’s what it all boils down to… I have a vested interest.
Everybody does.
Mine is simple. You’ve probably heard it before.
I have two girls growing up in this world.
One of them is turning 11 today. And I vote now for all the things I want for their future.
Not just their future, though. The future I want for all our kids.
Like Gerald McGrew, I know just what I’d do.
Voter rights. Not suppression. Clean air and water. Clean energy. Clean food. Choices about their healthcare. And their education. And who they love. Respect for diversity. Safety. And the chance to explore the world. Safely.
Yes. The list has gotten longer lately. As has my to-do list.
They’re worth it. So are yours. And everyone’s.
But, unlike Gerald’s zoo crew, I want them all free.
So, with thanks to Dr. Seuss, who taught us to see more…
When people see them, I know just what they’ll say. This new zoo, McSue zoo is really a wonder!
ps… Happy Birthday, Taylor! We miss you!!!
You are seen, You are known, You are loved.