I am sitting in the sun outside of Ellinikon Café in Highland Park, New Jersey, just two miles from my home in New Brunswick. Ellinikon is a wonderful Greek café with fantastic food. The name “Ellinikon” is related to the word “Hellenic” which basically means Greek. It is also the name of a mountain in Greece believed by ancient Greeks to be a source of poetic inspiration and the home of the Muses. It is fitting that I am here as I attempt for a fifth day to write this post. I can use all the help I can get.
I have a million ideas I would like to share. If you put a cupful of coffee in me and get me in front of somebody who will listen, I could talk, yak, squawk, pontificate, and wax poetic for hours. But writing these letters is different. I am attempting to organize my ideas. And I am having a heck of a time.
First Attempt
Five days ago, I set out to write this post and I called it “What ‘America’ Means to Me?” Since this blog is titled “Looking for America” I thought it would be good to explain what I mean by “America” and why I am looking for it. When I think of America, I don’t necessarily think of a place or a group of people. I think of a set of Ideals. I set out to explain why I think this and what some of those ideals are. But soon enough, I found it necessary to first define what I mean by “Ideals,” and why they are important. I decided to talk about “America” some other day, and I began a second attempt to write this post.
Second Attempt
The new title became “Why Ideals Matter?” I cited the Merriam-Webster definition of “ideal” and shared my thoughts on what that means. Then I wrote about the value of having ideals as goals and measuring sticks. I wondered if our society has lost respect for ideals and replaced them with cynicism. But soon enough, I felt that in order to appreciate the power of ideals, we first need to rise above cynicism. That led to a third stab at writing this post.
Third Attempt
I focused on the destructive (and in many ways cowardly) attitude of cynicism and why cynicism is such a big threat to democracy and spiritual freedom. Autocrats are popping up all around the world including our own backyard. They are gaining more and more power. But, perhaps, they are nothing more than cynicism itself put in the form of a personality – what may be called the “personification” of cynicism. Cynics stand against ideals and for tearing things down.
On day four, after reading and revising and re-reading and re-revising all three attempts, I felt they just didn’t hit the target. They were too heady. Too intellectual. Too much like a college lecture. Where is the personal experience in this? All three of these topics are near the core of my writing and performance. But my feeble attempt to explain them just kept coming up short. So, this morning I decided I would try a different approach.
A Change in Plans
I decided to let the universe show me what to write. That’s how I write almost all of my songs and the stories I tell from the stage. I rarely set out to write about some particular thing. Instead, I look around and see what’s going on in the small space around me.
A nudge struck me to write in a more conversational manner. As if I am talking to friends instead of talking to a classroom of students. I really have nothing to teach. I only have stories and ideas to share. I am keenly aware that my perspective on things is not necessarily any more “correct” than anybody else’s.
But, I do think I have a unique perspective to offer – one that might not be any more valid than others, but one that is different. How would you see the world around you if you had the experiences I have had? My experiences are no more profound than anybody else’s either. But they are unique.
Most people know I performed alongside Pete Seeger more than 50 times in the last ten years of his life. But did you know that among the hundreds of other musicians who got to spend time with Pete, I was pretty much the only one who hardly knew a thing about him before we met? As I wrote in my previous post How I Met Pete Seeger - Part 1, I started out enamored with the Beatles. What is it that drew me so strongly to Pete?
And there’s a whole bunch of other stuff most people don’t know that has given me a rare perspective on life. I have been in the company of some pretty amazing non-musicians who have shared profound wisdom. Like songs I have learned from great songwriters, I have also picked up a few tidbits of their wisdom. I have also explored the world of dreams in enough depth to realize it is as real as this physical world. Dreams have shaped my life as much as experiences “out here” have. The wise folks I’ve met and dreams I’ve had are sources of much of the music, lyrics, and stories I would like to share. So I arrived here today at this café to make a fifth attempt at writing this blog. I titled it “Let the Universe Decide.” Then a neat thing happened.
The Universe Gives Its First Hint
A friend walked by and started a conversation. Without my prompting, he talked about the importance of building things up instead of tearing things down. He had no idea that I have given talks on this very topic. He asked if I had ever heard of Pete Seeger. Can you believe it? I responded, “Tell me who he is.” He said, “You should know who he is. Your songs are in many ways similar.” I didn’t respond except to say thank you. But I also took this out-of-the-blue conversation as a confirmation from the universe to keep writing this blog – and to be sure to write about Pete and to write about building things up.
Stay tuned. There’s more to come!
And, oh, yeah!
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cool
💕