More Than a Feeling

This post is especially for you if the title reminds you of a Boston song you listened to in High School.  And no, this isn't just a vanity post.  Okay, maybe a little vanity is involved.  Understandably, I've always liked the song--every time I hear it, I'm reminded of guys singing 'see my Mariann walking away...' as I walked by them back in the day.  Who wouldn't like that?

But that's not why I'm writing this.  Today when I heard it quite unexpectedly, I started thinking about the 70's and how much I missed them, in spite of how much turmoil there was.  I know we've moved on from the reprise of the 70's as far as fashion, music and pop culture goes.  But I'm not sure we've fully appreciated what the 70's gave us.  Yes, there was incredible diversity in the music and yes, the 70's styles have a swagger that is undeniable.  But in my opinion, those aren't the best or most important contributions from that period.

Here's how I see it.  The 40's were the heyday for the greatest generation.  Coming out of the war, we experienced an unprecedented boom in the 50's, but we hadn't yet learned how to be honest with ourselves or others.  That led to large doses of escape in the 60's.  But in the 70's, we started to grapple with the truth.  We started to see that war was ugly and did not always lead to prosperity or peace.  That our families weren't perfect and there were issues that needed to be addressed.  That the office of the President was not above reproach.  That our reliance on fossil fuel could make us vulnerable.

I miss the honesty of the 70's--when being honest was more than a feeling--it was real and it was gut wrenching.  We didn't have illusions about being honest or 'keeping it real', we either told the truth or we hid from it.  Straight up.  I think we've lost much of that today.  We're so preoccupied with posting our status on Facebook or our images on Instagram, that I'm not sure we've noticed how superficial we've become.  I've started to notice and now that I have, I'm working on making sure that my experience in life is more than a feeling.  Not just illusions. Not just managing perceptions, but really attending to what's true and what matters most.  Who's with me?