In 1961, Rita Moreno sang those famous words in West Side Story’s show stopping “I want to be in America”. It was a ground-breaking performance in that a Puerto Rican played the role of a Puerto Rican in American Film. In a sea of cringe-worthy “white wash” casting (think Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s), how refreshing. Moreno became the first hispanic woman to win an Oscar (for Best Supporting Actress).
Like the rest of us this year, my pipe has been pretty full of stuff I need to smoke. If only that was as much fun as it sounds.
This morning, I woke up feeling very emotional because one of my best friends had breast cancer. Her diagnosis was December 2019. Other than the whole “you have breast cancer” part, she had the best case scenario and has been cancer free for months. She is healthy. She is fine. But I woke up reliving some of the worst and most vulnerable parts of her journey and I realize… I stuffed that shit in my pipe 9 months ago and it’s just now coming out the other end. Time to light it up.
I think this time in history has helped many of us make our pipes longer. There is only so much we can truly deal with at a time. Our miraculous brains have added compartments on top of compartments to our compartmentalizing. And bonus, if you happen to live in America, your micro problems are topped with very bitter and contentious macro issues. (Actually, I don’t think that’s limited to America).
Based on my morning, I can determine it took 9 months for my friend’s cancer to move through my pipe. I’m guessing the things we have to deal with don’t always move at the same pace or come out in the order they went in. Some things need more time in there. Some things may need a little patience, a little push, or not just a match, but a torch. And some things just don’t need to go in there at all. I unfriended someone on FB this week for the 1st time ever. I decided I didn’t need to smoke his tasteless memes about RBG’s death. It felt empowering to control something, anything! I got the same feeling from early voting. I recognize that there are many who still wish to “be in America” and we can’t take that right for granted. It’s the only way to be at peace with whatever tobacco we have to smoke come November.
It was announced this week that Stephen Spielberg’s much anticipated remake of West Side Story (featuring Rita Moreno!) has been pushed from a December 2020 release to December 2021. Turns out even some happy things need more time in the pipe.
