So, as you might have heard, I have pretty much all of The West Wing and Madam Secretary memorized. (It’s that whole auditory/digital processing thing!) Every now and then, though, even I need a bit of a break.
Now is one of those times. Thus, New Amsterdam.
Time out for a bit of context. (Yep! A Filters thing!!!)
The third season of New Amsterdam picks up, just about 4 years ago, with an episode called The New Normal (3.1). Plane crashes. Covid. Unemployment. Blood shortages. And, no… they didn’t overplay it.
The punchline, if you will, was toward the end, when hospital administrators across New York had the radical notion that working together could help with life-threatening shortages. Swapping in-stock meds for desperately needed blood. Vent tubing for gloves. And it all began with a question… How can I help?
And, yes… the nurse who still lurks inside me had chills and tears, pretty much the whole time I watched.
The big ah-hah for me, though, was realizing how much different my reaction was in this moment. I’d seen it before. Probably 3 or 4 times. This time, though, what made it through my filters was different. Bigger. More urgent.
And, yes… it has a whole lot to do with the news!
Let’s fast-forward, now, to Why Not Yesterday? (3.6). A whole bunch of people dealing with systemic racism and sexism. With pay equity. And opportunities.
And, in the background, music.
I had to look it up. Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil’s song, sung by – among others – Mama Cass Elliot, in 1970.
A new world comin’
And you, dear heart, have probably guessed why the tune is still swimming in my head.
The world did get better for some of us since those days. Bits of better, here and there. And, not nearly enough!
Then came the glue, from another channel, that holds all this together. Another re-run!
Stephen Colbert and Sen. Cory Booker, from Monday night.
Sense. Hope. Determination. (And no blood pressure spikes!)
Now, I have no idea whether Stephen and Cory know the song, A New World Coming. (I’m really kind of hoping they do!)
I do know, though, that those old songs I learned around the campfire matter, still, in my heart. And it seems to me that we need as many of us singing this one as we can get in this moment. It’s probably going to work a whole lot better for Mama Cass to lead the sing-a-long than it would for me to try it, so here you go…
And, yes… the best thing to do in a plague of whatever kind is to help! Often that starts with helping ourselves!!! So… what’s one thing – one easy, accessible, meaningful thing – you could do for you in the next 24 hours??? Seriously!
Here’s mine… a bowl of soup for dinner! Home concocted, if not exactly homemade from the beginning. (I had help with the broth!) Added herbs and extra veg. My favorite bowl. Healthy, comforting, and delicious. And, tomorrow, another of those easy, accessible, meaningful things. Because I can. And it helps me help.
It’s going to take a whole bunch of us!!! For now…
ps… stay tuned! Angel painting and Filters details coming soon! Your medicine basket will be excited!!!
