The New Normal

March 28, 2020

Robert Rauschenberg's Coca Cola Plan / MoCA

Some very thoughtful and intelligent folks are having an actual conversation on Facebook regarding the shift in the social paradigm in our society that may or may not be the result of this plague. 

There are some highly educated people using terms like 'node' and refer to the psychological impact of social structure as it's been changed over the past several years by E communication and social distancing by the 'convenience' of texting, tweeting and other impersonal means of connecting.  Now, with the plague, we must rely on it even more.

It's a really important time for intelligent folks to come to the fore to find ways to use agreeable communication to quell our fears rising daily and then.. when we feel safe to see one another again.. to touch.. Touch is vital..
The Human Touch. 

We may return to the land of the "Love In?" The 'Be In': A gathering of a tribe of folks who subscribe to the idea that sharing our humanity may be the answer to the issue of distance and missed understandings because of E communication. 

I hope the following makes sense. It's my reaction to the thoughtful back and forth on Facebook today, March 28, 2020. 

This is what I wrote in the FB discussion a few minutes ago: 

The basics of human interaction have been usurped by the burgeoning advance of E communication: email, texts, tweets, etc. We are more and more divorced from voice and personal interaction.. now dictated by this plague. Even with Skype and other visual aids, as the cell phone became our essential mobile connection to the world, our reliance on personal connections has faded. 

This is not Armageddon..yet.. But as we allow ourselves in the healthy world: the healthy world to come...  to abandon Personal Connections.. our 'nodes' (personal self contained spaces) become isolated. 

 I review Live Theatre. No more for now. Art galleries, concerts, gatherings of families and friends. Dining  out. A walk on the beach or in the park. On hold.

Losing art in a very personal way reminds me of a line from a Joni Mitchell song.. "They paved Paradise and put up a Parking Lot!". .Joni's lyrics are horribly prescient. 

 (Please do a search for the lyrics.) 

 The day when an open forum will take my ideas and those of folks who are psychologically much better educated than I am to discuss how to restore our society in the face of what we shall have survived.. hopefully.. is a day, perhaps, that  community leaders: political representatives, social influencers, contemporary movers and shakers? .. the artists, philosophers, scientists and folks with questions to ask and answers to share may gather in the outdoors and share food and ideas and Art. 

Art, to me, is essential: it is fundamental and  absolutely vital. 
 

ART may save us in the end.  

michael sheehan

3/28/20  

4:55 PM  PDT 

Glendale, California

Reaching out..

We are in for something. (This was my opening sentence a couple of days ago.  Now we are IN something and with reason and basic intelligence, everything will be okay... )

 

One hundred and two Coke Bottes

Our current state of affairs is all so new and the information is still swirling: conflicting reports and ideas. This must settle soon and should if we get the truth. If we pay attention.

Our television sets and E devices are all portals into our very personal lives.  For me, when 45 pops up on television, I just can't watch.  That's on me, of course, but what I see is not a concerned person striving to safely shepherd citizens of the United States, I see a guy in over his head still campaigning at the expense of our democracy.  When his image oozes into my home,  I have to change the channel.   

45 seems to be, from what I've seen referenced mostly on Facebook and the tid bits he spouts before I rush to change the channel... 45 seems to be campaigning.   Compassion and empathy may be impossible for him and his cronies to even attempt to fake.   

So..

I've been asking other folks if they can think of someone:  anyone..  in the national public eye who may demand equal time to balance what this administration is saying?  My ideal candidate would be Walter Cronkite.. were he still with us... Someone respected? Letterman? Ellen? Tom Hanks.. President Obama? Michelle? Oprah? Adam Schiff may be the one? It must be someone or maybe more than one person?  He or she must be credible. Someone who can give those of us who do not trust this faulty administration right now..someone who would be given researched facts to do what FDR did so eloquently when the fears of the war burst upon us.   It is time for Hope. My Hope is personal and works every time.

In January, 2020, there was news of health issues in China. The accusations of what the administration did re: dismissing health officials and doing other things that made no sense are now moot.  Playing catch up must work.. It must.. but.. we need someone with respected national recognition to step up and represent the Loyal Opposition to quell the fear exacerbated by TV news and the white house (sic).

I've written an email to Laura Friedman, the representative for the 43rd district in the California Assembly, asking for her to help find someone.  We'll see if she responds. (As of 3/25 she has not)

To those folks whom I know:  face to face.. my friends in real life.. Thanks to email and the phone, we've been in touch.  Let's all be kind.  and responsive. If you need TP or rice.. drop me a line!  Such a deal I can make you!

To Nashville:  daily good wishes for health and healing.

Edit..  I started this essay a few days ago. One friend felt duty bound to use an analogy that describes our situation.  It's eloquent and over the top.  If we allow hyperbole to dominate our psyches, we will founder. Take  your own temperature of the current times.  Do what you know is right for you. Exercise your personal critical thinking and don't allow hysterics (both the noun and the verb) to poke holes in your life raft. 

No one has taken me up on a deal for rice or TP! That means that people I know can dine and wipe. Good things! 

March 25, 2020

michael sheehan

S T R E S S

Stress is a killer.. 

Folks who are hip to this find ways to relieve their anxieties, their worries and troubles.  The killer part is that not only do the times create stress for many of us, but for folks who are suggestible .. the subconscious does a number on us as well. 

I say 'us' because as I have ventured out over the past few days, the stress and fear permeate the atmosphere like a cloud.  I think I'm so smart because I find myself aware of this, but not immune.

Royal typewriter: stress free

Recently, I was tutored in the term 'trigger.'  

 I've been aware of triggers ever since I taught my classes about how certain images or words work on us whether we like it or not.  For my dear "dad" just the mention of the term 'tongue depressor' would send him cringing.  We've all thought of fingernails on a blackboard.  Do they still have blackboards?  Would not be the same on 'dry erase!'  

Because the news is relentless: continuing to show the virus over and over again.. and Larry the mattress guy reminding us of dust mites.. and the useless blather repeated about ... well.. all that's been repeated a million times and counting.. right? So. how do we do an End Run on the triggers that may do some folks in?  Stressing us out.

1.  Be aware that there are such things.

2. Recognize them and call them out.. Out loud is good but if you are with other people, your sanity will also be in question.. so.. when alone.. just say 'trigger!' and take a nice deep breath.

3. The deep breath, held for a couple of seconds before releasing it does a number on the carotid artery, signaling the brain to relax.  (look it up..)

4.  Find a distraction.  

Tonight, somehow the entire musical "Hamilton" was streaming on line.  It was not perfect.. at least for me, the video would hang up ever so often.. but the skills of not only Lin-Manuel Miranda's epic idea coming to life with actors, but the music and the technical aspects of this show, combined with the history lesson in rap and rhyme, combined with the basic history that we may recall from High School .. held me in thrall.  We meet  the people who were on the battlements: the political and personal playing fields.. they all come to life.  Distraction.

Not everyone reading my stuff will find it helpful, but recognizing triggers being the key topic.. when we see that we've been 'triggered' and find a way to at least back off from it, the s t r e s s.. the stress that sneaks in subconsciously and creates havoc with our emotions and our thoughts may find balance.   The boogey man may scare us the first time!   But, when he tries the same trick again.. it reminds me of when George W. tried to tell the 'Fool me once' story.. There's no shame in being scared the first time.  Allowing a lingering malaise to dominate a conversation or moments alone or when turning past the images of fear on TV? These can be dealt with.  

Yoga is good.  Meditation is good.  A walk around the block and a chat with a neighbor is good.  Picking fruit from the neighbors' trees is really good.. and the activity of squeezing orange juice or making lemonade is pretty good, too.  

Physical activity and nutrition... 

With Theatre on hiatus for a while... where I would be going to see plays and to spend time focused on writing about them, .. and movies out the window until the tide ebbs.. I think of the few face friends whom I love.. a pal from second grade.. an old fart Republican.. my Boy Scout Brother.. a cousin or two.. women whom I love and have loved.. and imagine that they may hear my voice here .. if my voice is in these words.. My farmer pal on the hill. My golden neighbors. The desert enigma. My love down under.  It feels good to say hello and hope that they think of me from time to time..  with love. 

 It's spring!  

New beginnings. 

Deep breath. 

Onward.

michaelsheehan

Adams Hill

March 21st. Bud and Donna's anniversary. 

ARE WE AWAKE?

March 19, 2020

I break off three little pyramids of Toblerone and place the foil on a growing blossom of patches.  Silver patches that I imagine will get stuck to something somewhere and I'll call it 'art.'  Of course, this current thing must .. eventually.. be all about Art.  To be Awake and  distracted and focused all at the same time is like that guy on TV with the line of spinning plates on long poles. He rushes back and forth and back and forth to keep them all spinning. 

Earlier today I took time to manually type a letter to a hero of mine.  A nice distraction.. "spinning" on a beautiful invitation that I received in snail mail.. Snail Mail!! on Monday.  His art work is being honored at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The invitation was in French! Over the years, he and his wife/partner have been responsive to my fan letters and inquiries.  A personal letter that I got from them several years ago included a small artwork and a hand written card. When a hero takes time to be a responsive human being, it makes the whole world better somehow.  

How can one person's kindness to another make the world better?  It's infectious.  A word we'd rather not deal with today, but the infection of kindness and humility and love are vital and when we all figure this out and in some human way, reaching out to other folks with a word or a gesture, then.. kindness may be passed along. 

I first heard about 'Instant Love' many years ago up in the Bay Area. It was one way to generate some good feelings.  Herb Caen was a human interest columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. He reported on "Baghdad by the Bay" for fifty years.  The deal was that when you drove from Oakland to The City and stopped at the toll booth on the Bay Bridge, you'd pay not only your quarter (that dates this, eh?) but you'd pay another quarter for the person behind you. If they were hip to this idea, they'd pay for the person behind them!.. such a deal.   Before you knew it, there would be folks who'd never met before waving and smiling as they headed into the wonderfulness of San Francisco. 

In my attempt to shift focus from the anger and angst that many folks are feeling, it feels good to repeat that story and to hope that our fears and upset may take on some perspective.  

This is in no way to treat the current issue in a cavalier way..but to make us all realize that this is a storm that will blow through.  

If we piss and moan about it at length, that, to me, may prolong it. Of course, we won't deny that things are tough.  But, by doing our own personal actuarial, checking to see how friends are doing, being respectful of those who find ranting a way to deal with things.. and most of all... behaving like human beings.. the ordeal.. this trial of our society.. will, hopefully,  take on perspective.  

Perspective is difficult when we feel threatened, of course.  That's where being 'awake' and being focused on the good stuff takes effect.  If being upset serves us, then, I guess we should be upset. On the other hand, if planning a simple future of simply being still, just for now...  to survive, well that seems like a plan. Do both? Well..  doing the latter seems like a good idea to me.

Advice? On line? Platitudes? I guess this may all be platitudistic.. is that a word?  I refuse to be cowed by these Times.  Maybe that's denial? But.. seeing the image of mr. 45 on Facebook is not necessary. I just prefer to not have that image in my home.   Listening to what seem to be half truths and lies from the White House? (mostly, I just turn it off....) is a challenge.   

Or? Do we take today and tell a friend that they are important, they matter and that we appreciate them without even mentioning the.. the thing.. if we can.. then, that's a little like Herb Caen's "Instant Love" isn't it?  

So? This missive is my way of saying "I love you" and whomever needs it, is welcome, whether we've ever met or not.. Most of the folks reading this are good people whom I've probably touched elbows with, or lain with, or loved over the years... We are friends.  Hi.. Please pass it on. 

Ill send a dollar to the first person who can tell me where this photo was taken.

Michael Sheehan

Glendale, CA 

March 19, 2020

 

STAY AWAKE..

March 12, 2020
ART from years ago: 

Land Art (not ANT).. Vacant lot and fertilizer 2009

 

As Governor Gavin Newsom carries on about the current plague (I have opted to not dignify the name of the plague).. Watching the way TV news amps up the fear with images of the critter and other germy icky killer stuff, I need to remind myself that even though there certainly IS some kind of pandemic in the works, the odds of becoming infected are still quite slim. This doesn't mean to run rampant through the Costco high fiving every other shopper stopping for a bit of cheese.  It means that when virulent disease is on the loose, we must be extra careful.

Remember when we didn't know much about AIDS and every gay person may have become a pariah? That's the worst thing I recall about transmittable health issues.  

I'm writing this here and will post it to Facebook so that only those who may actually care in real life will see it and, hopefully, take heart.  

Quoting FDR about fearing fear is a good one. Washing your hands is a good one.

Hoarding TP and other stuff is a bad one.

Staying informed is a good one. 

Even for those of us who might compare the current political situation in the USA to the Dark Ages (and they are very dark to me, boy..).. 

We survive. We survive. 

The Company Theatre did a play called The Plague many years ago. One conceit of the show was that before the play began, the cast all drew lots to see who would "die" when the Dark Angel (Michael Stefani in a black leather cape and death mask) would sweep through the players.  That was the act break. The actors who had "died" got to go home. The rest of the cast finished the show... The point is that the odds are that each of us reading this will not die nor will we be ill with the virus. But, as the news makes us so aware of the horrible dangers and we see technicians in hazmat suits and respirators wheeling one victim or another into an isolation chamber, it's hard to stay clear on the odds... difficult to focus on Good Health.

I'm writing this mostly for myself.  I'll see a play tonight with a couple of hundred other folks in close proximity.  There may be masks (which I've heard really don't protect us much).. and fear that might cloud the performance.. But, the show must go on..  Right!?

Fear is palpable when we succumb to it. The irony is that it's a limbic reaction.. and we have little control over those brain functions that are part of the survival mode.

It's dark in Glendale. It's one of those seldom seen dark and drizzling days.  How can we tell ourselves that the storm will pass when government dictates the closure of any event that has more than 250 people? Thousands of jobs are lost. Sports cancelled. Theatre? No word from local theatres. The Ahmanson with 2,000 seats and averaging $100.00 a ticket? The Book of Mormon! $200K? lost? Hamilton scheduled to open at The Pantages? 2,700 seats.. bet those tickets are more than a hundred bucks! 

Panic may deep six our economy before the plague kills us all.

There are more than Forty Million residents in California.  Last year: 4,800 deaths from the flu.  These are mostly folks who were otherwise vulnerable. These figures show that .001+ percent of California folks have succumbed to INFLUENZA.. 

Figures for this plague are vague, but the panic is growing.  No one cancelled anything when the Flu Season came around. 

CBS News reports that to date (March 12, 2020) there have been 38 deaths due to the plague in the USA.  If there are 330 Million people in the USA (well not quite, but round numbers are easier to comprehend) do the math on the odds of one of us catching this virus (notwithstanding Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson!) and succumbing to it.  No one has said what the treatment and the recovery period might be.

BTW.. the odds of being felled by this dread disease are about one in a hundred million.. unsure of my math. On a Google search, the odds of being struck by lightning are about 1 in 7,000. 

Apropos nada.. Google says that winning the Powerball Lottery are more than one in over three hundred million.  

Statistics are guideposts.  I'm not going to try for the Powerball.  And, I'm not going into Donald Judd's Lightning Field with a tin foil hat. What I am going to do is find a way to reduce the anxiety by attending a high school musical; being very happy to see the parents of the girl playing the lead whether we hug one another or not! 

What each of us must do is to Seek Reason in these dark days and reassure one another that we love one another. Let's take our vitamin C and hydrate, eat food to keep our strength up and stay well. 

This too, shall pass.  And, if I change my mind about the Powerball, if you really are a friend, you are in for a share!  How's that?

michael sheehan

March 12, 2020