The Secret of Swan Lake

Lindsey Stirling is an extremely talented young lady who plays the violin beautifully. She is currently on an east coast concert tour and I for one would love to see her play if she ever gets close enough for me to attend.

I watched a moving video today where Lindsey dressed plainly and set up shop in a NY subway station. As she beautifully played "Hallelujah" in the busy station, not a single person seemed to notice her. Everyone was too self absorbed by their cell phones. Shocking that they could all ignore the beauty of her music right under their noses. It seems we live in an isolating world.

Then I read this from Karol Markowicz in the NY Post: 

"Many Americans are bereft of people to lean on. The demise of tight-knit communities has had a profound effect on us. We’re increasingly living our lives on the Internet, alone amid vast digital crowds. Social media have replaced socializing. We’re all guilty of staring too often at our phones. We curl up at night with the latest Chrome browser.

The loneliness is killing us.

“Baby boomers are aging alone more than any generation in US history,” Janet Adamy and Paul Overberg wrote in The Wall Street Journal a few days ago. “The resulting loneliness is a looming public-health threat.” The statistics are stark: “About one in 11 Americans age 50 and older lacks a spouse, partner or living child, census figures and other research show.”

Unsurprisingly, that’s also the age group that has the highest rate of suicide and an increasing rate of drug addiction.

The economy is booming. Crime has fallen dramatically all over the country. We’re richer and safer than ever.
Yet we’re in the middle of this terrible malaise....We’re not connecting."

Now contrast this to Swan Lake Village where we are currently staying. People smile and wave to each other. Friendly conversation is everywhere. They play shuffleboard, cards, and Bingo together. They swim, ride bikes, take walks, and have coffee and donuts. It all may sound pretty square and old-fashioned, but this is a happy place. I'll bet the suicide rate here is zero.

Let me finish this post with another quote from Markowicz:

"In 2019, let’s work on being kinder to each other. Let’s be the people who step in when someone is hurting or in trouble. Let’s put down our phones and laptops and make connections on our blocks and in our neighborhoods. Let’s seek out the lonely, the outcasts. Let 2018’s victims open our eyes to the desperation all around us. 

We’re literally dying without each other."

Me: "Honey, I think we should play Bingo tonight."