Along with the wonder goals, penalties, sending offs and pitch invasions, some of football’s most memorable moments have come in the form of the undershirt celebration: hastily scrawled or ironed-on messages expressing political views or religious beliefs, which players would lift their shirt to reveal after scoring a goal.
Source: I Belong to Jesus: a Loving Homage to the Undershirt Goal Celebration – Creative Review
My cat Edward who passed away this year — that sucked.
We’re seven months into 2016 and I wouldn’t blame a soul if your collective assessment of this year is one of the suck.
After all there’s a proverbial cornucopia of waste, loss and stupidity before us that is literally breathtaking:
And, that’s just the tippy top of the shitberg. Yup, 2016 is turning out to be an awful season for Team Humanity.
So let’s call half-time and retool.
I believe that the line between civil & intellectual discord is being blurred by a barrage of sound-bites provided by folks who have no clue of how to get shit done.
Humans, us, we’re the top of the intellectual brain-chain on this rock. You know what that prize affords our species?
The ability to stretch way beyond our porto-lizard brain stems—Fight/Flight, Good/Bad, Yes/No, Win/Loss, Mine/Yours, My Way/Highway, Happy/Sad, Black/White—binary ways of thinking.
Its time to play smarter if we want to stay in this beautiful game called life.
My grandparents generation were defined by some profound struggles like:
Just to name a few.
Lizard-brain shit that started (some of which continues) because some people were motivated by a political, social or fiscal orthodoxy, usually based out of selfishness and/or fear, that they were better than everyone else (spoiler: they weren’t).
Some of these ideas at that time were so troubling and inflexible — their proponents destroyed almost everything in their path to justify their righteousness — people, buildings, resources and dreams…gone (fuck you fascism).
Fortunately, the sane majority of humanity wised up and worked through these heinous mistakes. They did so not with sound bites, but by rolling up their sleeves, working together and sacrificing greatly as they clawed their way towards a better future (thank you by the way).
Sure, there were pauses (the McCarthy era wasn’t a shining moment), but they learned from their mistakes and made forward progress once again (the Moon Landing was pretty darn cool), knowing that their work was never done. This is the mindset that they passed on to us as it was passed on to them.
Let’s call this social contract leaving things better than they were given.
We’ve made some tremendous strides since the greatest generation handed over the keys. We’ve also had some painful stumbles.
Right now, we’re in the midst of a Grinding the Gearbox event (GGE). We’ve given voice for far too long to those fearful lizard-brain rascals, who desperately want to scurry humanity backwards to a time & place that never existed. The resulting paralysis is distracting us from working together to find sensible solutions to what ails us. So, let’s call this condition The Suck.
The good news is there’s a cure—telling fear to fuck off.
Here’s the deal, life is amazing and beautifully diverse. It’s also messy and awkward. Growth isn’t graceful and doesn’t happen in a straight line. Having the courage to own & learn from our mistakes is what defines if we’re making progress.
A brighter future is a long-term proposition, made out of a healthy mix of patience, wisdom, imagination, curiosity, failure, joy, compromise, optimism, sacrifice, work, forgiveness and love (definitely love) that keeps the lights on.
Most of you, the sane majority, actually give a damn about building a better tomorrow. It’s now time to for us to roll up our sleeves, rally and get shit done. We’ve got five months left to make something decent out of 2016…or at least push us into overtime (2017 has got to be better).
Frankly, the alternative is to hopeless of an option for us to allow.
Rooftop view of Downtown Minneapolis shortly after Philander Castile was shot by a police officer 10 miles away.
I had a nice time last night — spent with friends as we enjoyed a whimsical performance by some talented folks — followed by light-hearted talk at a rooftop bar. I gazed at the amazing view of downtown Minneapolis while the vibrant street life unfolding below. I fiercely love this community that I call home.
I had a good night.
I awoke this morning to the news of another man’s passing — a truly senseless death — his name was Philando Castile and Minnesota was also his home.
He will no longer have nice nights.
He will no longer enjoy time with friends and family.
He will no longer experience the comfort of a community that he called home and likely fiercely loved.
Today, I’m profoundly sad — it’s not the first time — but this one really hurts hard.
I believe there’s a better way for all of us to live and enjoy this brief time that we share. Life is never easy, it’s frankly hard. It’s also the most remarkable event that will ever happen to us. It’s the struggle for a better future, not just for ourselves, but for everyone, that truly defines our place and time.
This struggle is called hope.
I’m heartbroken, but not deterred. I will continue to work hard to make hope happen for everyone because I love our community.
Photo via Flickr Jenny Mealing: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
Howdy United Kingdom,
So, I heard from Australia that you’re having a rough patch with Europe.
Look, I get it, she high maintenance, but I wouldn’t have bailed her out…TWICE…if I didn’t think she wasn’t pretty awesome.
Here’s the deal…you’re together…and need each other.
So don’t do something batshit crazy (and I’m talking from experience) like vote to leave her tomorrow.
I know you can make it work, because deep down you care about each other. I feel it in every fiber of my Stars and Stripes.
Buddy, stay with Europe and I’ll make sure to take care of this god awful Trump Rash by November. Deal?
Later Bro,
United States
P.S. Nice to see England, Wales and Northern Ireland make it into Euro 2016 knockout stage. BTW: we put those cases of single malt that you sent to good use after last night’s thrashing by Argentina (Messi…what were we thinking?)
This infographic features 34 compelling first lines from some of the most famous books of all time.
Source: 34 Compelling First Lines of Famous Books | Scribendi.com
