#197: Maybe This Way

Reframing helps me to see things differently.

The news is crazier, sadder, and more tragic by the day. How do we cope with this? I’m no psychologist, but here’s something that worked for me recently. Perhaps it may help you, too.

reframe | rēˈfrām | verb [with object] 

1 place (a picture or photograph) in a new frame. 

2 frame or express (words or a concept or plan) differently: I reframed my question.

Photo by In The Making Studio on Unsplash

I think of the news as the daily synopsis of a never-ending soap opera. The show has been playing for as long as anyone can remember as in…forever. Each season blends myth, Greek tragedy, fables, Middle Age morality plays, fairy tales, Punch and Judy, and war & horror movies. The series is set currently in the Henny-Penny the sky really IS falling doom of the 21st century. Lead roles stay the same but, as cast members die off, new actors take over the characters.

The show’s one theme is Power.

• Who has it?

• How did they get it?

• When did they get it?

• What…and Who…do they buy with it?

• How do they keep it?

Punch and Judy by George Cruikshank, 1828

Can you imagine the brainstorming sessions in the writers’ room where they dream up this stuff? And what about the producers who demand that each episode be crazier then the last, end with a cliff hanger that makes viewers’ jaws drop in disbelief but somehow keeps them coming back, and back, and back. This current season is a doozy.

May it please come to a resolution in the highest good of all of us.

Thanks for being here and lending an ear.

What I’m Listening to Today

The Beatles - I’ve Got A Feeling