Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Shelter for Vaccine




@MyMarinetteMenominee
The lyrics to our local artist Rusty Wolfe’s new song Shelter for Vaccine smoothly echoes the viral battle that has ripped the fabric of our human spirit. Any time in history before March 13, 2020, the song would have implied a different meaning than it does today. If it had played in the past decade, you would have thought it was the first song from the soundtrack of a Pixar movie. With phrases like:

“Stay together, while you’re apart.”
“It’s not safe in your dreams.”
“Look on the light side; you can’t share your straw.” 

Today these phrases reflect a blunt new reality. The only similarity it has to a children’s story would be a Grimm’s fable.

If you are feeling devastated, heartbroken, and sorrowful, you are at the center of a whole world feeling this too. How did we go from a past where “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” to I just need to buy a bottle of green hand sanitizer?

The Great Depression, two World Wars, The Assassination of a President, Y2K, 9/11, and The Great Recession have taught us we can recover. We faced those desperate times, our spirit amplified, and our hearts rewired for hope. We innovated. We got creative. And each time we fine-tuned what matters most to us.

This worldwide calamity is named “The Great Pause” by Julio Vincent Gambuto in his article, Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting. He explains, “the world has stopped.” I wonder, could this Great Pause be the Great Cause for us to write a better story than the one we are living? What purpose does this suffering serve, if we do not use it to pay forward the promise of a brighter future?





Listen to Rusty’s Song, Shelter for Vaccine, on Facebook @MyMarinetteMenominee or hear it on local radio WHYB