50. Into the Great Googly Moogly

As we start 2021 it's a good time to reflect that we humans are messy, always have been, and always will be. It's one of the things that makes our story so interesting, colorful, funny, painful, joyous, romantic and dramatic. The term "Great Googly Moogly" in my title comes from the iconic musician Frank Zappa. I read that Frank was fond of a quote by the French author Flaubert which said, "Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work." Some people may not agree that Frank was regular and orderly in his life, but despite rumors to the contrary he was actually quite conservative in many ways, whereas his music is anything but.

With democracy, truth, and even our health now under fire as they have never been in my lifetime, it is also good to remind ourselves of the value of healthy boundaries put in place to guide us in dealing with our fellow human beings. Some people express the belief that freedom means the ability to be free to do anything without regard to the consequences, but it is not so. Paradoxically freedom requires setting some limits and taking responsibility for our actions and how those actions affect others in our community. To think and behave otherwise is ignorant, selfish, mean spirited, and narcissistic.

So as we head into the Great Googly Moogly which means going into the unknown, unnerving and messy possibilities facing us in 2021 and beyond, I pray that humanity will awaken to what the poet Wallace Stevens called "the voice that lies great within us." .”