Get Along

Long time no word vomit.

I’ve been in a strange kind of funk for the past while.
I can’t decide if this cold, grey Auckland winter is the culprit for this, or if it is just a general dismay at the
state of the universe.
Perhaps a helping of both.

I kept telling myself I would pick up a pen again (who am I kidding, I use a keyboard, my kids stole all my
pens) once I had something to write about that wasn’t so damn depressing. The thing is, if I sit around
waiting for sunshine and rainbows I’ll probably never write again. So here I am, spewing words across a
page. Who knows what will fall out?

I find solace in music. When the world seems like a giant flaming disaster, when my kids are possessed
by demons, when I can’t decide what to cook for dinner, music is there holding my hand, guiding my
soul, ensuring I don’t commit a murder I can’t come back from.
I don’t subscribe to religion, my kids attend church and I’m happy for them, it’s not for me, but if I did
have a religion it would be music.

In a rather solid funk this morning I fired up my trusty friend Spotify
and crawled into a very country heavy playlist I haven’t touched for a while.
The very first song in this playlist is a lovely wee number from Kenny Chesney called Get Along.
I feel like this song needs to be played from loud speakers every time Donald Trump opens his mouth (or reaches for the tweet button on his phone).
Now I could be wrong, I didn’t write the song, but from where I’m sitting it feels an awful lot like a plea
for everyone to put aside our differences and do just as the name suggests and get along.
If only the world could be saved with a song.

Every day I see hate. Every day I see people treated as less than because of where they live. Because of
the labels on their clothing. The colour of their skin. The language they speak. The food they eat. Where
they were born. Their age. Their gender.
Can we all just cut the shit and recognise that we are all stuck on this big ol’ rock together and just be
nice?

We live in a world where our politicians spend more time slagging each other off on television than
getting anything done. This applies to ALL of them. Really, all of them. Left, Right, Forwards, Backwards,
bloody upside down, I don’t care if they are liberal or democratic, doesn’t change the fact that they are
all currently just as bad as my children when there is only one ice block left and they both want it.
Not just in my little country, all over the damn world, politicians, the people we elect into power, to
make the tough calls for us all, are spending almost as much time throwing toys as a pack of toddlers.

When I was a kid, I looked up to all these adults like they were something to aspire to be. Something to
reach for. I sit here now looking at the world and I hope my kids find something better to look up to. I
hope they don’t see these people throwing hate (and toys) left, right and center and think ‘ooooo, I
wanna be like them’. I hope all our kids can be the change that our world needs to see.

My oldest has some real damn strong opinions on the state of the planet and boy am I trying to get her
to channel them into making a change when and where she can. She advocates for her friends when people are hurtful and it is beautiful to see. My youngest calls people out for putting things in the wrong
bin without even batting an eyelid. She refuses to tolerate racism and sexism and damned if you try and
tell her she is too young to have an opinion. I’m trying real damn hard to grow some kids that will
respect the planet that sustains us. That will show love and compassion regardless of who you are.
Maybe there is still a little hope somewhere after all.

I think I might leave you all now with some words of wisdom from my old mate Kenny Chesney…
Perhaps next time I write something it won’t all be doom and gloom, one can only hope.

Find out when you die the keys to heaven can’t be bought
We still don’t know what love is but we sure know what it’s not
Sometimes you got to
Get along, on down the road
We’ve got a long long way to go
Scared to live, scared to die
We ain’t perfect but we try
Get along while we can
Always give love the upper hand
Paint a wall, learn to dance
Call your mom, buy a boat
Drink a beer, sing a song
Make a friend, can’t we all get along

-B