{"id":4932,"date":"2021-05-29T00:53:59","date_gmt":"2021-05-29T00:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=4932"},"modified":"2021-06-02T18:31:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T18:31:21","slug":"in-praise-of-lilacs-blue-sky-and-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/in-praise-of-lilacs-blue-sky-and-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"In Praise of Lilacs, Blue Sky and Rain"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

“…Blue skies
\nSmiling at me
\nNothing but blue skies
\nDo I see…”
\n(“Blue Skies<\/a>,” Irving Berlin (1926) via Lyrics.com)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>But that’s not literally true.<\/p>\n

We had blue skies with clouds Monday through Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Then it rained part of Wednesday night, pretty much all Thursday and part of Thursday night.<\/p>\n

So maybe this is more appropriate. Or was, until Friday’s bright blue skies and sunshine.<\/p>\n

“I’m singin’ in the rain, just singin’ in the rain
\nWhat a glorious feeling I’m happy again…”
\n(“Singin’ in the Rain<\/a>,” Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown (1928 or 1929))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even so, the first bit of “Blue Skies” has been on my mind’s ‘top 20’ hit parade this week.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>Good news, Not-So-Good News<\/h3>\n

\"Sauk
\n(Looking north from my driveway on Sauk Centre’s Ash Street South. (May 22, 2021))<\/p>\n

I’ve been hearing “blue skies” in my mind’s ear \u2014 if that wasn’t an expression before, it is now \u2014 most of this week. So how come I’ve been feeling less than perky?<\/p>\n

Backing up a bit, I’ve been living with clinical\/major depression at least since I was 12.<\/p>\n

Then, in 2006 or thereabouts, my wife told me that maybe I should see a psychiatrist.<\/p>\n

I agreed, and that’s when I learned that I’d been dealing with recurrent major depressive disorder. Clinical depression. Depression.<\/p>\n

Whatever it’s called, it’s a mood disorder. Which is emphatically not just experiencing a blue mood or having a down day. It’s not fun. At all.<\/p>\n

The good news is that my “recurrent major depressive disorder” is “in partial remission.”<\/p>\n

No-so-good news? It isn’t something I’ll get over. But on the ‘up’ side, industrial-strength antidepressants let me think without fighting my mental machinery.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Controlling Destiny With My Mind<\/h4>\n

\"Sauk
\n(Looking south from my driveway (May 22, 2021))<\/p>\n

Whether depression led to my other psychiatric issues, or they helped launch depression is a good question. An unanswered one.<\/p>\n

In any case, when I learned why light and color had subjectively drained from the universe, back in 1963, I began learning of my other oddities.<\/p>\n

Seems that I’ve been dealing with generalized anxiety disorder, cluster A personality disorder and<\/strong> persistent depressive disorder. That last, I gather, is a sort of variation on the recurrent major depressive disorder theme.<\/p>\n

Let’s face it. I’m a mess.<\/p>\n

But I’ve been a more-or-less functional mess. Having an internal playlist of songs like “Singin’ in the Rain” helps.<\/p>\n

“Life is a Song Worth Singing” has helped, too, although my mind’s disk jockey hadn’t selected it for this week’s playlist.<\/p>\n

“…Life is a song worth singing
\nWhy don’t you?
\nSing It!
\n“You hold the key in the palm of your hand
\nUse it!
\nDon’t blame your life on a master plan
\nChange it!
\nOnly you generate the power
\nTo decide what to do with your life
\nYour a fool if you think you’re helpless
\nYou control what you do with your life…
\n“…Don’t like the way you’re living
\nToo bad!
\nCan’t change your life because it’s out of your hand
\nSo sad!
\nSo you sit on your pants and holler
\nCause the world ain’t been treating you right
\nDon’t you know you contain the power
\nTo control destiny with your mind….”
\n(“Life is a Song Worth Singing<\/a>;” written by Thom Bell, Linda Creed; first performed by Johnny Mathis (1973))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n