This goes out to my fellow broken-hearted Americans and citizens of the world, but also to my fellow Americans who just handed a fox the keys to our hen house. I’ve been ugly crying a lot this morning, and racking my brain for the best song or other art to share to help heal some of the hurt I know so many are feeling today. Haven’t slept more than about four hours the last few nights, so there is an added level of surrealness to this day. It is grey and drizzling outside right now, and it reflects what I am feeling inside.

My heart has been broken many, many times during the course of my decades on this wild, beautiful planet, but maybe never more so than now. Music, other types of art, and Mother Nature have helped me keep me going through a lot of loss. I invite you to lean on them now during this time of mourning and loss with me.

I’m mourning the loss of our country to a convicted felon who spewed hate and threats at anyone who dared to oppose him. I’m an American citizen and am terrified, sad, my stomach hurts, and I’m so disappointed in my fellow citizens I don’t know what to do☹

I know what I’m not going to do though – I’m not going to call them/y’all the Enemy Within, even if I do kinda feel that way at the moment. I do understand a good deal of what many on the right were and are concerned about, as I have some of the same concerns. But to just freely give such immense power to a man who has shown so much disrespect and disregard for the rule of law and to so many of our fellow citizens and allies around the world, all while cozying up to the likes of Putin, Jong-Un and other dictators, was IMO a dereliction of your duty as a citizen of our democratic nation.

It Never Entered My Mind that so many people would willfully forget the atrocities of WWII, and the diabolical, hateful mind/s behind the mass carnage. Willfully forget the men who died on the beaches of Normandy and elsewhere to protect us from leaders like Adolf Hitler. They GAVE their lives so that we could live in a Democracy, and y’all just threw it away like it was chump change to a person who has stomped all over our democracy☹ Please, please tell me why in the Comments if you’re so inclined.

Now, on to one of the other goals of the site – Helping people connect through Stories and Art. The following is a short piece I wrote about the effect on me of the instrumental, It Never Entered My Mind, by the Miles Davis Quintet. It hit me hard today, maybe even harder than the first time I listened to it, as the gravity of this moment in history threatens to push me right through the floor.

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The first time I was asked to put a story to an instrumental piece of music was about 20 years ago in Mr. Bona’s English Composition class at what was then Georgia Perimeter College. I no longer have that paper, but believe I chose a waltz by Chopin. In the fall of 2020, my Intro to Screenwriting instructor gave us a similar task and here’s what I wrote.

The first time I heard this song (a couple of weeks ago at YouTube’s insistence) it had a visceral effect on me. It immediately brought a memory to mind, but one I couldn’t quite place. I was in tears by the end of it. That hasn’t happened in a while.

After listening to it a few times I feel as though I’m Red Garland on piano – hopeful and trusting – moving along through all sorts of relationships and scenarios; while Miles on the trumpet keeps reminding me of every time I’ve ever had my heart broken by someone or my species in general. The name of the song, which I didn’t notice until the end, was the final gut/heart punch – It never entered my mind that some people would do the things they’ve done, both personally and at large.

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The picture I shared with this post is a diorama of a building I worked in near Georgia Tech, and a couple of the streets around it. This cracks me up every time I look at it, but today I feel like the guy lying in the middle of W. Peachtree! I’m guessing some of you feel like this too. We can get back up in a few days and start planning for 2026! Hugs!