CORRECTIONS AND OMISSIONS DESK: In my original draft of this essay, I said that Kenny Chesney had been married to Reese Witherspoon. That is incorrect. He was once married to Renee Zellweger, a completely different human being. Although both women are acclaimed actresses who came to fame at around the same time, they are not the same person and come on their names aren't THAT similar. It won't happen again.
Wow. This one sentence stands out above all the others in this excellent essay: "And most importantly, whose stories did I miss because of the volume with which I told my own?"
This was one of the questions I asked my USH students to consider at all times: Who’s telling the story? Whose voice is missing? What were the benefit & costs?
And we always ended with a paraphrase of Dr. Maya Angelou: Know better, do better.
Thank you for this thoughtful, smart, and important reflection. :)
This was extremely fascinating and self-aware. Thank you for opening up your introspection in a way that could feel risky when the audience isn’t well-disposed.
The men, the myths, the legends! Excellent essay. And what it made me think - creating a story is another powerful way to feel the meaning/purpose that people are sorely lacking in their lives. Being a rebel probably feels easily meaningful compared to creating actual meaning on one’s life.
For a number of years, I used to visit an isolated Navy base from time to time. One thing that struck me the last time I was there (2019) was that I was by far the oldest person around. What this meant is that if I went to the store, or to get a burger, or pretty much anywhere, they were not playing Boomer music. At all. It was music for people then in their 20s. Everywhere.
A thing that was striking is that that's what the world was like when *I* was in my 20s, like when the original TG movie came out, but now in places where cranky Boomers might gather, it's the same music as when I was young.
There was part of me that wanted to make an entire essay just about the anachonistic music choice-- "why are all these twenty something pilots only listening to classic rock???"
CORRECTIONS AND OMISSIONS DESK: In my original draft of this essay, I said that Kenny Chesney had been married to Reese Witherspoon. That is incorrect. He was once married to Renee Zellweger, a completely different human being. Although both women are acclaimed actresses who came to fame at around the same time, they are not the same person and come on their names aren't THAT similar. It won't happen again.
Wow. This one sentence stands out above all the others in this excellent essay: "And most importantly, whose stories did I miss because of the volume with which I told my own?"
Something we all need to think about.
Goodness knows I have to keep thinking about it. Glad it resonated for you as well, Sue!
This was one of the questions I asked my USH students to consider at all times: Who’s telling the story? Whose voice is missing? What were the benefit & costs?
And we always ended with a paraphrase of Dr. Maya Angelou: Know better, do better.
Thank you for this thoughtful, smart, and important reflection. :)
This was extremely fascinating and self-aware. Thank you for opening up your introspection in a way that could feel risky when the audience isn’t well-disposed.
Really appreciate it!
The men, the myths, the legends! Excellent essay. And what it made me think - creating a story is another powerful way to feel the meaning/purpose that people are sorely lacking in their lives. Being a rebel probably feels easily meaningful compared to creating actual meaning on one’s life.
oh that's a really, really good point Faith
Really appreciated this piece, and the song of the week was the icing on the cake!
As a wise man once said ":After chasing sunsets/One of life's simple joys/Is playing with the boys"
Rats. You mean my gossiping (as a tenured prof) with my colleagues about "the man" screwing us over in academia doesn't make me a rebel? :)
It brings me no joy to inform you that this behavior means that you're something much worse than a rebel... AN ACADEMIC!
To quote someone from another movie that could be on this list, "The horror! The horror!" Guess I'll keep paying my union dues to make up for it.
Lol
For a number of years, I used to visit an isolated Navy base from time to time. One thing that struck me the last time I was there (2019) was that I was by far the oldest person around. What this meant is that if I went to the store, or to get a burger, or pretty much anywhere, they were not playing Boomer music. At all. It was music for people then in their 20s. Everywhere.
A thing that was striking is that that's what the world was like when *I* was in my 20s, like when the original TG movie came out, but now in places where cranky Boomers might gather, it's the same music as when I was young.
There was part of me that wanted to make an entire essay just about the anachonistic music choice-- "why are all these twenty something pilots only listening to classic rock???"
That’s the music from when men were men, obvi.
100%
DID NOT KNOW JAMES DEAN ALSO HAD A QUAKER CONNECTION
YOU’RE WELCOME, LEE!
BRB, making my comprehensive list of hottest Quakers of all time (3. Bayard Rustin 2. James Dean, 1. Benjamin Lay)