Hamilton has definitely been the soundtrack of my “quarantine”. Even though my son told me I would like it at least two years ago, I only listened to it for the first time in March. I quickly bought the soundtrack and have been listening to it on repeat ever since, much to my husband’s displeasure.
Finally being able to watch the show on Disney+ this past weekend was brilliant. I’ve already watched it twice, and I will probably watch it many more times. Each time I see more nuances, and watching the ensemble choreography is fascinating.
The show is incredibly relevant to the challenges and changes we are seeing in North America today, especially because it is primarily performed by people of color. We see ideals promoted by individuals that did not live up to those ideals themselves, by people with heritage that many in our society consider less than ideal.
Aaron Burr’s constant refrain in the musical is, “Talk less. Smile more.” That’s not the answer for the ills our society faces. That mindset has kept too many people in poverty and oppression for far too long.
Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the centre of the universe.
Eli Weisel, Nobel Acceptance Speech delivered in Oslo on December 10, 1986
For me, the answer seems pretty simple. We need to care more about each other. Whether that takes the form of wearing a mask to decrease the chance of spreading infections, adding your voice to an online petition supporting Black Lives Matter or Defund the Police or Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), advocating for greater accessibility to health care and government services, or holding the door for someone else, we all benefit when we put the needs of others before our own desires.
I’m not suggesting you martyr yourself. There is no implied “more than ourselves” after “We need to care more about each other”. This is not pie – there is not a limited amount of caring.
Love is the only thing that grows when shared.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Caring more means caring more about yourself, as well as about the welfare of others, including the animals and plants of this Earth. It means opening your heart and loving bigger and deeper and wider, instead of closing down out of the fear of loss. It means feeling the emotions that come with loving and caring.
Opening your heart to love and joy means also opening to pain. We’ve numbed ourselves to the pain of others, because it’s uncomfortable. We lie to ourselves and say it doesn’t affect me or I wouldn’t make a difference anyway. It keeps us “safe”, and it also robs us of joy and connection.
We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions. Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.
Brené Brown
I grieve for the people who have died because of ignorance and anger and hate. I grieve for MMIW, black and brown people who have died at the hands of police and white supremacists, children in cages, and COVID victims. And I grieve the loss of the world we knew.
That grief allows me to celebrate the new life being born to so many of my friends, my children experiencing their passages to adulthood, and the birth of a kinder and more compassionate society which I believe we are becoming.
I can’t snap my fingers and make the pain and the grief go away. Denying it only serves to numb me. The first step to moving forward is to have the courage and the vulnerability to really feel. Then we can work on reparation.
Blessings,
Mary