{"id":2245,"date":"2014-11-09T22:41:50","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T03:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2245"},"modified":"2014-11-09T22:41:50","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T03:41:50","slug":"ring-more-cowbells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2245","title":{"rendered":"Ring More Cowbells."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cowbell\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not only do we have a whole bunch of holidays here in the United States, we have a heck of lot of Public Awareness going on.\u00a0 Now, don’t get me wrong.\u00a0 When it comes to Public Awareness Days, and liking all of them…. I am Switzerland.\u00a0\u00a0 Seriously, I think it is ALL good.\u00a0\u00a0 Public Awareness is important …. as most of these are focused on public health, and personal betterment.<\/p>\n

But dang!\u00a0 There are a lot of them.\u00a0 Sometimes we have “days, weeks, or months” which are devoted to a cause.\u00a0 Breast Cancer Awareness Month is probably the most widely recognized.\u00a0 Everybody wearing pink “this or that”…. from football players to street sweepers.<\/p>\n

Consider this.\u00a0 JUST during the month of November… we have COPD Awareness Month,\u00a0 Dercum’s Disease (Adiposis Dolorosa) Awareness Month
\nGood Nutrition Month, National Epilepsy Month, National Diabetes Awareness Month, National Red Ribbon Month (anti-drunk-driving), Vegan Awareness Month, National Hospice Month, National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and of course…National Prematurity Awareness Month. The list gets even longer with the “day and week” observances.<\/p>\n

I mean… World Vegan Day came and went on November 1, without my noticing.<\/p>\n

Even so… all of it garners interest, and support.\u00a0 Like a\u00a0 snowball.\u00a0\u00a0 Which is good…..\u00a0 in some cases.
\nOur culture seems to operate that way.\u00a0 I mean… the best way to draw a crowd is with a crowd.\u00a0 Or have you ever tried this?\u00a0 Standing on a busy sidewalk and looking up?\u00a0 For a lengthy period of time.\u00a0\u00a0 Many people will most certainly begin craning their necks upward… simply to get a look.\u00a0 We are a culture of followers.<\/p>\n

It reminds me of the scene from Dead Poet’s Society.\u00a0 Robin Williams asks his students to take a walk around & about a courtyard.\u00a0 Quickly, they fall into a well-oiled circle, marching and clapping in unison.\u00a0 And that was his point.\u00a0 We have become conformers and followers.<\/p>\n

So.\u00a0 Here is my bright idea.<\/p>\n

I think we need an National Loopiness Week.\u00a0 (I won’t even ask for a month at this point.)\u00a0 That’s right.\u00a0 Loopy.\u00a0 An entire week devoted to being your SILLY self.\u00a0 Letting your funny side out of its cage.\u00a0 Doing something out of the ordinary.\u00a0 Putting the filter down for just one moment, and letting the goofiness flow.<\/p>\n

Stand on a table.\u00a0 Sing out loud in the middle of the grocery store.\u00a0 Act like you are speaking in a foreign language.\u00a0 Draw on the sidewalk with some chalk.\u00a0 Slide down a banister.\u00a0\u00a0 In the great words of Donald O’Conner in Singing in the Rain…. “Make ’em laugh.”<\/p>\n

Yep.\u00a0 I think the world would be a better place if we all lightened up just a notch.\u00a0\u00a0 Hug somebody… just for the heck of it.\u00a0 And then pull their nose…. and say… “Hey.\u00a0 Got your nose!”\u00a0 Laugh a little more.\u00a0 Sing a little louder.\u00a0 Celebrate.
\nCelebrate National Loopiness Week.\u00a0 Start today.\u00a0 Your life depends on it.<\/p>\n

“Well, if you want to sing out, sing out<\/strong><\/em>
\n And if you want to be free, be free<\/strong><\/em>
\n ‘Cause there’s a million things to be<\/strong><\/em>
\n You know that there are” — Cat Stevens<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not only do we have a whole bunch of holidays here in the United States, we have a heck of lot of Public Awareness going on.\u00a0 Now, don’t get me wrong.\u00a0 When it comes to Public Awareness Days, and liking all of them…. I am Switzerland.\u00a0\u00a0 Seriously, I think it is ALL good.\u00a0\u00a0 Public Awareness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nowyouseeit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2245"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2249,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions\/2249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}