Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #2
Hey. How are you? Welcome to Issue #2 of the snappily titled Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter. Please enjoy yet another mini-essay/never-used video script. I have a terrifically short attention span, so these emails will always be a quick a read. Please enjoy and tell all your friends. About this. Or anything really. It’s nice to talk.
THE SERIOUS IMPORTANCE OF BEING SILLY
I recently watched the below news clip from Channel 4 News in the UK by reporter Minnie Stephenson about how kids are coping during this bizarre time we’re living in.
“Sometimes I feel like, when is it really going to end?”
What’s like growing up in a UK lockdown? @minniestephc4 finds out how kids are coping in this new world - and how the pandemic is forcing them to grow up fast. https://t.co/k5mgecrNpV
A few things stuck with me after watching…
Kids are phenomenally resilient and that resilience is constantly taken for granted.
Kids also process and comprehend much more than you might think.
There’s a young blond haired boy in the video clip that seems to be all too aware of the garbage state of the world. He looks and sounds weary. Like he’s taken the job of carrying the weight of it all. It’s heartbreaking.
Those of us who aren’t children anymore (maturity notwithstanding) at least have the benefit of being old enough to know that life is rarely one way forever.
If we’re lucky, we also know that life isn’t always such a downer. Sure, life is awful but it’s occasionally awful in a way that is utterly ridiculous… and pretty funny.
For example… when things get dark we can remember that time we discovered not eating dinner and drinking single malt whisky’s at the office Christmas party and then barfed all the way home on the train. Ha. Fun times. No? Just me? K.
That was my big takeaway from that clip. Huge percentages of kids’ lives are being eaten up by protocols, regulations and restricted movement. All necessary, you know, because science but… that doesn’t make them suck any less.
It highlighted to me how important it is to find the time to be silly.
In times of crisis (like now) the emphasis is put on functionality and requirement. Let’s do what we NEED to do. Which is important. Without question.
However, I feel, kids need to know that there are also things you can/should do that serve no direct connection to… anything.
And it’s not just the kids… it’s all of us.
It’s vitally important.
Back in 2013, our little family had less than no money. Things were dire. Everything we did was focused on not not having money. It was an intense time and it was taking a terrible toll on all of us. So we did what we had to do and what any family would do…
We scraped together any available resources and decided to drive to Scranton, Pennsylvania for The Office Wrap Party. You know, the TV show.
It was a completely unnecessary, frivolous and plainly silly thing to do… and it was worth every borrowed penny.
For a couple of days our minds weren’t entirely laser focused on our problems. It felt like someone had uncoiled my brain and things started to look clearer. Not necessarily any better, but I seemed to have a better perspective.
Make no mistake… right now? These are dark days. We will, hopefully, look back on this time and wonder how we made it through.
Ideally, we’ll be able to look at all the big stuff like wearing masks, social distancing, not travelling, and vaccines and know we did the right things. But I think, we’ll also look back on the silly stuff we did to, you know, keep us from going crazy and keep us going.
The watch parties. The Zoom birthdays. The renewed knowledge that Monopoly is a board game built solely to destroy families.
The sidewalk concerts. The delivery guy you’ve become friends with. The brutal realization that even though you thought you were a good dancer, your latest Tik Tok video has laid that lie bare.
Us humans… we need a little silliness every now and then. Seriously.
✌️❤️🇨🇦
The Office Wrap Party - 2013, Scranton, PA