Tuesdays with Morrie slammed my gut

Deadhead Girl has that "on demand" deal with her cable. When I was over kickin' back on the couch, and enjoying a Mike's Cranberry Hard Lemonade, she played parts of this Bill Maher show. I guess it's on cable; it reminds me of Jon Stewart's Daily Show going out for a beer with the panel at Meet the Press. Anyhoo, we were watching this deal, and Bill Maher made a comment about how needy attention seeking Americans are, "from Me to shining Me." Are Americans such glam grabbers? Are they just out for their 15 minutes of fame, so they'll blab, blunder and blog until they capture some of what they crave?

I took Rosie to a performance of Tuesdays with Morrie, now playing at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and after seeing that play, I'm not convinced that Americans are just narcissistic. People have lost the human connection, especially Americans.

We run from point A to point B, grab a burger and a coke, hustle off to point C-- we do this all day, fall into bed and do it all over again in the morning. It's out of the norm for children to be stay- at- home kids, spending days with a parent. Day care, preschool and all day kindergarten dominate the tenderest years of todays' children.

Tuesdays with Morrie slams you in the gut-- don't wait until you are dying to begin to live. Not all of us will have the time Morrie had to learn this truism and impart it to someone he loved. We need to embrace this; I think at a subconscious level we understand it, but have so few meaningful contacts within our lives to make it a reality. We cover up with busyness to make up the fact we are afraid, or unable, to sustain substantial relationships.

The beauty, and the bane, of the digital age is we can reach out to people around the world who have similiar interests and dreams. Blogs, message boards and email groups connect us to people. They also gobble up our time, taking away from real time human bonds.

When I'm online, I get irritated when I'm interrupted. I enjoy the time I spend on the web, reading and connecting with folks. It's magnetic, like the phone used to be-- as soon as I log on, my kids pick up the signal and rally around to talk with me. I could have just spent hours tootling around, doing other things undisturbed, but the minute I hop online, they're ready to connect with me. When I listened to Tee do his hundredth impression of Stuart from MAD TV, it clicked that I won't always be able to experience this. When will he tire of trying to connect with me? That's the time to push away from the damn keyboard and experience a human moment.

Rosie ribbed me about crying during the play. I did cry, sometimes I bawled. While I worried because she said the play was good, but wasn't worth blubbering over, I take heart in the smudged black eyeliner and the tear dribble stains I saw as we exited the theatre. And she let me give her a big hug before she went to bed that night. We connected that day, even if she doesn't want to admit it; teens are interesting creatures.

I'm babbling here-- the point is reach out and make a friend; get dirty; loaf around a bit. Don't be afraid of looking stupid and dance in your kitchen every chance you get. Don't think people are laughing at you; laugh along, because the absurdities of life are funny. Enjoy today's technology without forgetting the lovely touch of having a real human sitting across from you as you drink your coffee.

Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too - even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling. ~Morrie Schwartz

Dying is only one thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else. ~Morrie Schwartz