Circling Back to Joy

Flea trumpets truly

because been “Thinkin Bout You”

circling back to joy

Coming Full Circle—An Astronaut and a Poet  

Artemis II Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen: “What you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having meaningful contribution and extracting joy out of that.  I would suggest to you that when you look up here, you’re not looking at us.  We are a mirror reflecting you, and if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper.  This is you.” 

And, speaking of you, “Happiness saved its most extreme form / for you alone.”  No explaining that happiness, Jane Kenyon writes, its knack for showing up and staying put.  It comes for makers of love and of baskets, for the street sweeper and the grocery stocker.  The wineglass and the dog—the boulder and the rain.  For you.

NASA’s Moonship and Hungary’s Democracy—Artemis II Crew and Dancing Voters

Q: Established in 1958, what is the funding source for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration?  A: NASA is publicly funded.  Q: Who attended public schools?  A: Artemis II Crewmates Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.  From their April 1st Florida launch to Pacific Ocean splashdown, this brilliant and ecstatic quartet dazzled the grounded world for ten days.  Celestial bodies orbiting—gravitational pull holding.  Traveling 248,655 miles, the longest distance from Earth ever recorded, the astronauts stared on April 6th at the complete face of the “dark side” (color detected!) of the moon.  Mission Specialist Koch reflects during her moonship call to the International Space Station: “The thing that changed for me, looking back at Earth, was that I found myself noticing not only the beauty of the Earth, but how much blackness there was around it and how it made it even more special….  It truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive.”  Koch’s decision: “But ultimately, we will always choose Earth.  We will always choose each other.”  Q: What group of retirees actively promotes democracy?  A: NASA’s “Astronauts for America.”

Shouts of dancing joy along the banks of the Danube River in Budapest!  “Hooray for Hungary” independent journalist and law professor Harry Litman cheers, including lessons for us in our fight against tyranny in the United States: “After an overwhelming public uprising so forceful that even the tyrant’s tools of manipulation could not oppose it, we again look to Hungary no longer as a cautionary but rather an inspiring tale.  Led by Péter Magyar, the opposition won in a landslide.  It happened there, and it can happen here.”  Having suffered 16 years of Victor Orbán’s Christian nationalist far-right authoritarianism, Hungarians organized, protested, demanded change, and voted.  Victorious with 80% voter turnout and promising “complete political transformation,” Magyar and his Tisza party scored over a 2/3 parliamentary seat majority.  Magyar built a sprawling, diverse grassroots coalition in two years, sweeping up former Orbán strongholds in smaller towns and rural communities.  He ran against corruption, a broken economy, and poor health care.  Putin-pal Orbán conceded in three hours, unlike current US tyrants who campaigned for the defeated autocrat.  Now European Union aid, previously blocked by Orbán’s veto, can be expedited to Ukraine.  Magyar on Hungary’s future: “Never again a country without consequences!”  It will happen here. 

joy in Budapest

lit up to the stratosphere

thanks Rachel Maddow     

Revelers in Joy—Garrett Graff and Zohran Mamdani

Humans naturally imbibe and absorb joy—we thirst and wither without it.  The Northern Lights glimpsed from the moon—be full our foolish hearts.  Independent journalist and historical scholar, keen-eyed observer and past-as-prelude writer of the “Doomsday Scenario,” Garrett Graff toasts “The Pure Joy of Joy.”  The four astronauts’ intense excitement and giddy awe, defined as “Moon Joy,” proves wildly and happily contagious.  This moonstruck foursome held hands and hugged like children.  Graff caught the bug: “Throughout, we got to see continuous and incredible moments of just pure joy…the NASA scientists as they heard the reports from the spacecraft…the unabashed wonder of scientists…surprised in real-time by things they had only imagined!”  Awe recalibrates the nervous system and resets perspective.  Moon joy rekindles earthy joy.  And, don’t you know, joy paints us pretty.

Graff joyrides from looping the moon to walking the streets of New York City. “Political success will come first and foremost to candidates who can evoke their own sense of “moon joy” in voters, candidates who play to their own strengths and comfort, and can demonstrate that they’re genuinely grateful for the chance to serve.  Any politician can fill a pothole—only a great leader, though, can look grateful and joyful for the chance to fill a pothole.”  Walkernaut NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, still knocking on doors and stopping for selfies, celebrated his first 100 days in office on April 12th.  Big projects and small tasks—1.2 billion dollars set aside for universal healthcare and 102,000 potholes filled.  “And somehow we have more work to do.”  Three days later, “Happy Tax Day, New York!”  How to recoup some $500 million and use the funds for child care?  Enforce an annual fee on unoccupied second homes owned by “the richest of the rich.”  The joyful mayor: “There is only one majority in this country – that’s the working class, and it’s time we have a politics that puts them at the heart of public policy.”  Order up—joy to go.   

May Days Music—Cory Henry, True Loves, Jon Gomm

Backed by orchestra and vocalists, “your friendly announcer” performs a 1976 Stevie Wonder song.  Flexing his fingers on piano and organ keys since he was two years old, keyboarding grownup Cory Henry confirms that “Love’s in Need of Love Today.”  Every face—loving love.  “Don’t delay / Send yours right away.”  Slip your foot into that pounding pink shoe.  Each beat—loving long.   

A “Passionflower” pops through Jon Gomm’s backyard pavement and sprouts all over his guitar.  His fingers honor this rising.  “Weakness is not your weakness,” champion plant, as you stretch toward the light.  “You are what you grow into, you’re not what you were.”  Blooming breakthrough.

Guitarist Jimmy James sits.  The True Loves stir up a tasty stew of funky soul blues.  Scoop a serving of “Dopus No. 1”—yum, congas and drums seasoned by trombone and saxophone.  Actions speak louder than words.

Circling Back with Joy’s Poem          

Feel your heart’s liftoff reading Joy Harjo’s “Redbird Love.”  Step outside with me—slide inside her poem.  Once a baby chirping and flapping little wings, this “bird-girl” now parades and struts while flirting suitors wing around her.  She meets her match.  Rustling up materials for their nest —diving for dinner seeds on the patio.  “Isn’t that how it is for all of us? / There’s that one you circle back to—for home.”    

two full moons in May

we are all Hungarians

circling back for home