I often try to prewrite the blog posts, or at least most of one so that I'm not doing it over breakfast before the rest of the day takes me away. Sometimes I discard it, no longer feeling the mood I was in when I wrote it, or feeling that current events have meant something else might be called for.
And some days, I cannot find the pre-written post, and I wonder if I wrote it, or if it really was as great as it seems like in my head. (Words I cannot find often seem better.)
I watched and listened to "In the Heights" over the weekend. While it is not set over July 4th, it involves summer heat and fireworks, so it seems appropriate. I also watched a lot of tennis taking place in the UK.
But in the song "Carnival del Barrio", an ensemble number, many of the characters are deciding between hope and despair. Gentrification is happening to their neighborhood. Change is coming and it's not great. The electricity is out with no word on when it will be back. But, as several of the characters suggest they can wallow or dance. (People in musicals always end up choosing dance. Shocking, I know.)
Of course this sad/happy dichotomy, this dance don't dance, is a staple of musicals. But it resonates because I think we have all been on both sides. Some days it just seems like everything sucks and also is sweaty. And some days you want to dance, even if only metaphorically,
Change is happening. Neither wallowing nor dancing will fix that. But getting ready to face the change, to push for change, that we can do.
