Boy, am I hung over and sunburned from 4th of July, my country tis of thy, celebrations. I’m tied, headachy and my eyes are bloodshot not from laying by the pool, drinking Margaritas and indulging in food of which I par-took of none. It was that
brilliant, sparklely, inspired, patriotic energy that surrounds the 4th that gets me in the heart every year. If you’ve read my blog, ”feel the feeling,” you would understand that I’m a sappy feeling blubbering babe that is an easy target for sentimentalism. It may not be cool to be patriotic in these conflicted times but I’m red, white and blue through and through on the 4th of July.
We, my sister Cassandra, her Husband Scott (my two fav pirates from 3D and Me blog) their roommate Jenny and I
enjoyed three full, robust woohoo days capped off with a up close and personal Hollywood Bowl July 4th Fireworks Spectacular with Daryl Hall, John Oats, conductor Thomas Wilkins and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra all squished into Terrace box seats with very tight tolerances. Dressed in red, white and blue and accessorized with my superman dog tag from the CDRF its felt swell to be an American! Wheee!
On the years I stay home relaxing in the summer heat of July 4th I make sure I watch the television fireworks display held in the birthplace of America accompanied by the Boston Pops belting out the patriotic tunes that embody our country’s spirit. My favorite part of our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, is “home of the brave,” which pretty much every time, turns on the water works for me. From then on it’s body shivers, pride welling/swelling up in my chest with a feeling of connection to my community at large with a huge smile across my face. Hurrah!
My take on why I quake and cry with the words home of the brave, is we Americans, we’re a brave people, a people willing and determined to face conflict, find the best in ourselves and the people of our world. We take resolute action with guts to assure the best possible outcome for all. O’sure we mess up and I’ve said we’re pretty fear based at times taking action based on old patterns that don’t serve us, yada yada yada. But we’re not too stuck to rise up out of the muck and mire to create a brighter, collaborative day.
I say this because we are a young country and with youth comes, among other things, true resilience to adversity that’s poised with open creativity and adaptability to execute change that serves all people. Case in point we are the only country with an American’s with Disabilities Act, a civil rights law, in place to serve and protect the rights of people with disabilities, nationwide!
And life is all about change and change brings conflict and to face change we must be brave. We Americans have been leaders of change due to conflict. Conflict begins internally, within our minds and spirits (in my 3D blog I had a basic internal conflict while in the ocean clutched by vertigo, “I can’t do this” and “yes you can, swim” as I spun circles) to external forces. Conflict then progresses to our decisions, our relationships, our communities and our world until we take action to resolve the conflict.
Our hope, at the core of our human experience, is always that when conflict arises and it will as a precursor to change, the shift generated from this conflict will be a positive benefit for all involved. Yes, much of the time this is not the case first time through a conflict, but sometimes it is. Our 4th of July celebration is birthed of conflict, bravery and change.
At one point the Hollywood Bowl celebration asked veterans to stand when the official fighting song of their military branch was preformed during the Armed Forces Salute. The orchestra struck a cord filling the air with the first beats of the Army’s “Over hill, over dale, as we hit the dusty trail, and those caissons go rolling along.” I felt pride oozing from the people standing while we saluted them with our in-time clapping applause I was in the house of the brave.
Before leaving the “Bowl” we made a potty stop. While waiting for our crew to assemble I struck up a conversation with Steven, a man standing next to me. He asked me if I enjoyed the evening, “yes, it was spectacular and fun.” I inquired about his evening, his answer was affirmative, also but he added, “If you really want to see a show like no other on the 4th of July go to Boston.” So you can bet next year I’ll be in Boston, for the 4th, bravely turning into a puddle of patriotism. Blessings to all, In Joy, Candace
"The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity." Robert Anthony
Copyright 2011 Candace Cable
