Past Perspective
When present isn't pleasant
 Another brutal week of world news. I wanted to escape the images, the reports of injustice and devastation – to remember what it was like to attack life with some innocence and hope. So let me take you down my memory lane – a path that didn't include 24/7 preoccupation with the worst of humankind – but, instead, was paved with possibilities.
As a very active 77-year-old, I've got a lot of memories – high points that brought me to where I am today. I'm sharing some of those experiences with you to refocus my own perspective from anxiety and concern to appreciation. And, perhaps, to encourage you also to embrace memorable events in your own journey that bring you pleasure, pride, joy, and meaning. Caveat – Like you, I've also had tragedies along the road. But retelling those events is the opposite of inspiring positive thoughts in trying times. Here's me:
 I've been very fortunate to experience an adventurous and stimulating professional life. As a reporter, I had opportunities to meet fascinating, famous authors, entertainers and artists, several governors, and many politicians (a mixed bag of pleasure and disillusionment). I flew in a hot air balloon race (crashed in a cornfield), descended to the inky depths of a tungsten mine, suited up in a diver's helmet to look for a sunken WWII plane in a high mountain lake, spent several days with the Ringling Bros. Circus – including a visit to the legendary 'Clown Alley' - and ate rattlesnake meat just to get the snake hunter's story (it did not taste like chicken).
I experienced nearly a week in the bowels of a major forest fire and was within a few hundred feet of a crashed cargo plane carrying fire retardant. My firefighter guide and the paper's photographer ran from a great ball of flame roiling toward us like a burning boulder. The photog and I won a journalism award for our work. I did stories on the famous few and the uncommon-commonplace: ranchers, rodeo riders, a former suffragette, inspiring teachers, and shady preachers. Appeared as an emcee on MTV, made a few videos that aired on public television, and, in a crowning moment, was kissed on the cheek by Sydney Poitier – the brilliant actor and movie idol (I can still conjure up the magic of that moment).Â
I did a story on a bronze foundry and thought to myself – maybe I can do that! And I could; sculpting came naturally, and I slowly immersed myself – even working at a foundry to better learn the trade. One of my sculptures (a penguin) is on permanent display at the Sacramento Zoo. I sell a few pieces now and then and am currently working on a major monumental sculpture to honor and remember the folks who saved our mountain homes from a devastating forest fire. I have visions of many more sculptures arriving uninvited into my right brain (left brain logic largely retired).
Creativity has dominated my life choices – starting with acting. My final show was on the professional stage, where I played Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Decades later, I had an impromptu appearance singing "Granada" in Spanish with Romanian musicians in the lounge of a Greek ship on the Mediterranean Sea. After, a striking older woman floated to my little table, leaned elegantly over, and said in a throaty voice, "My dear, if it was my week for women, I'd choose you." I was enormously flattered.
I sang with little jazz bands, recorded my own CD, and at sixty-five, briefly played fiddle with a country and western band of 30-somethings. We practiced in a garage. I quit when we were booked at a bar in Nevada because the job ended well past my bedtime.
 And, I've never stopped writing - a mystery novel, compilations of short stories, a children's book, ghostwriting for clients, and now writing to you almost every week.
When I recall these highlights, the spotlight on overwhelming world news momentarily dims. We are all compilations of memories. Recalling those that lift us up and beyond tragedies that threaten to bury us in grief is good medicine. I'm taking mine now with this post. A reality break – because what we've done, our personal victories and feel-good moments, are every bit as real as daily news that delivers injustice and tragedy – as we used to say in newspapers' bygone days – 'Above the fold.'
Thank you for being with me this week as I sort out my sanity and attempt to build perspective with this personal recitation about the sunnier side of being human. If you're feeling overwhelmed by today's headlines, jot down some of your uplifting memories – and send them to me if you're inclined to share. Darby@darbypatterson.com
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