In addition to everything else COVID-19 makes it difficult for me to blog. “Dear diary, I stayed home yesterday.” Did I at least cook something interesting? I had blackened chicken again. That’s interesting the first time, but not the second time in a week. I go on social media and see how wonderful people are and how stupid people are. Sometimes they are the same people. I had a StreamYard meeting with Rob, that was fun. He produces? Directs? Engineers? The streaming version of John Platt’s On Your Radar. He makes the stream possible. He needed someone outside to check levels. I got to feel useful and to hang out with Rob. Rob is one of the wonderful people. He got to be useful for the price of hanging out with me. This was the first virtual OYR that I didn’t sit in on a tech rehearsal. I don’t know any of the musicians.
A friend of mine had a tech crisis, lost hours, and hours of work on her computer. She called me when it happened and then apologized for being distraught. Anyone would be distraught, and any friend would be willing to listen. Isn’t that how a friend differs from an acquaintance? She’s a wonderful person too. I did what I do and tried to get help. My greatest talent is knowing a great many talented people and bringing them together when they need each other. I couldn’t help this time. I felt bad for my friend, not for me. I need to be reminded that I’m not an island, even when socially distancing. It seems that many people need to be reminded. It’s the paradox of humanity, we are social animals, but we can be keenly aware chasm between what’s in our skull to what’s in the skull of others.
Does everyone feel weird? Does everyone feel like they are an outsider? The popularity of the Harry Potter books, and a slew of stories, makes me think most do. There are times when all of us feel like Cinderella. We all feel like changelings left in the wrong world. That we aren’t a fit for this world, or the world isn’t a fit for us. It’s’ the appeal of cults, they present themselves as the place where you belong. It’s part of the joy of subcultures, they provide a place where we belong. It’s the joy of Science Fiction conventions. I’m sure it’s the joy of knitting conventions. Are their knitting conventions? There has to be. It’s something people love. It’s why people find God. It’s why people leave religious communities. We search for our Hogwarts, our Prince, our utopia. The place where we can use our talents to the utmost.
Or am I just a freak trying to rationalize that everyone is a freak? I am confident that many of My Gentle Readers will understand exactly what I’m talking about. You are not random sample of people. This topic deserves a book. In a sense the entire 20 volume Biography of Manuel, the collected works of James Branch Cabell, explores this. Cabell’s worlds are part of the world I belong in. He got this as much as anyone ever has.
Wise Madness 