Woke up to the horror stories of the LA firestorm – let’s use this Sci-Friday to express empathy with some LA Fire Music, a live version of ‘Save Your Tears’ by The Weeknd and Ariana Grande. Seems oddly appropriate given the news we’re getting about loss and grief to thousands of now-homeless people in Los Angeles:
Before I say anything else – just enjoy the cool, cyberpunk-y vibe of The Weeknd. Love his music – would totally put ‘Blinding Lights’ in the movie version of Mesh if I could. It’s a nice, momentary respite from the horror to dive into another world and I love how The Weekend does that for us. Vibe for a bit, and then let’s talk about the LA firestorm.
Number one – Yesterday, today, and probably tomorrow’s disaster is emblematic of the threat of global warming. Climate change is real and we’ve ignored the danger at our peril – now we’re down to wheeling our vulnerable grandpas and grandmas across the street because the fire is at their doorstep. Can we take a moment to feel the sad inside ourselves that this is happening – that we could have done more?
Feel the sad – don’t run from it – sit with it. It’s easy to point fingers, or say ‘welp, this is what you get for overlooking climate change’ but that’s neither helpful or appropriate. Folks are just living their lives, you know? Doing the best they can? I agree with Josh Johnson – empathy, compassion, and kindness are the way forward. We can and we should at least honor our own humanity by saying ‘hey, bro – sorry this happened to you.’
Feel the sad – feel the fear – sit with those emotions. Then get up tomorrow and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. This is simultaenously the worst it’s ever been, and the best it’s going to be until we acknowledge our power and responsibility to show empathy, compassion, and kindness to ourselves and the marvelous planet we live on.
I hope you enjoyed poignant Sci-Friday and the LA Fire Music – even if it’s only on an emotional level. Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great Weeknd. <3
