[Worship] I have an idea for alleviating social isolation......ONLINE

Mon Mar 16 20:37:57 CDT 2020

*I  have an idea for alleviating social isolation......ONLINE*

*I have attached the following in a file for ease of printing and or
editing.*

*OK OK..so many of our members are in the "High risk group."*

*I am staying home (we're on spring break) avoiding crowds blah blah
blah... MY PERSONAL PROBLEM...all I am doing is eating too much and smoking
too much....*

*My son WIll and his girlfriend and Mila (almost 4 months old) are on my
second floor, and Bahrom from Tajikistan is in the back bedroom.  So I am
hardly "ALONE," but we are keeping our distance. *

*I have plenty of projects to finish....and books to read...and WVUP has
advised faculty to be prepared to go online when we return from spring
break...although they have not made an official announcement yet.*

*Fuggedabout it.*

*SO, social isolation can be a problem.*

*John Krasinski gave the commencement speech at Brown in 2019. it is 14
minutes long.....it's amusing/funny and at time hilarious.  Don't worry if
you don't know who Krasinski is.... I'm not asking you to watch it, but I
have a short excerpt to bring to your attention.     I have highlighted in
yellow the relevant sections. I believe we can apply them to the UU
community.   READ   I will put my idea at the end. *

*This is an excerpt from John Krasinki’s commencement speech at Brown
University 2019*

*If you want to watch or listen to the whole speech…which is quite funny,
here is the link (14 minutes).*

*https://speakola.com/grad/john-krasinski-brown-university-lean-in-2019*
<https://speakola.com/grad/john-krasinski-brown-university-lean-in-2019>

 *“No, I didn't get to throw everything in acting, but I did throw
everything I had into this unparalleled pool of brilliant people. People
often ask me how I got into acting. The truth is I didn't get into acting.
I got into everything. Believe it or not. When I got to Brown, I really
hadn't listened to any music that wasn't on the radio, seen any movie that
wasn't in the multiplex. One day I asked a small group of friends to each
give me, one of their favorite movies, favorite albums, and they did, every
single week for four years. Yeah. Cry. Okay, I'm back. It was the
experience of my life. One of the most mind blowing, mind expanding
experiences and no drugs were necessary.*

* It was without a doubt the beginning of everything. For the next four
years I wanted to be a part of it all. I formed a new way of thinking, a
new way of executing those thoughts. I leaped out of my comfort zone, then
stayed there and then left again. I experienced firsthand the powerful
shift in doing something out of love rather than out of necessity. I
learned what it meant to believe. I took chances, I failed, and I took more
chances. So yes, in the classroom I received one of the greatest educations
one can possibly get, true, but the piece of paper I got at graduation also
represents that education. The piece of paper I got not only says where I
was educated, but who I was educated with and it declares that I am a
member of that community of people to be relied upon, to take risks,
provoke thought, and to be committed participants in this world. The piece
of paper I got represented every facet of my experience and the piece of
paper I got is the exact same piece of paper you're going to get tomorrow.
The piece of paper I got, I live my life every single day by, because when
looking at this sense of nervous that you're feeling now, ask yourself,
what's it based in? Is it based in the unknown? Because my question to you
is up until now, how else have you approached each new tomorrow? And if
your nerves are based in fear of failure, well, my question is up until
now, how have you defined success because in this community, without the
presence of financial gain, isn't success simply defined as you're just
being onto something, taking an idea farther that it never been before? Why
does it ever need to change? It doesn't. Or if your nerves are based on
something bigger, a fear of something bigger. The world at large. Well, to
that I do say yes, it's true there are right. The future does indeed belong
to you, but the abstract weight of responsibility to change it overnight
very much does not. Real change is organic. You're the only responsibility
you all have is to hold fast to everything that you have lived right here.
To not conform. To realize that when you're out there, you've done all this
before, right in here. Remember fondly the discomfort you felt when you
were asked to push yourself farther than you were ever. Sure. You could go.
In the wash of elation when you finally got there. Remember to be scared.
You've been there, scared before. You'll be scared again. Find more of your
people. Lean all the way in. Take chances, fail big and take chances again,
listen to music. Remember to believe in something and fall in love as many
times as it takes. And remember before you do something special, just do
something. The truth can almost seem too simple, but the simple truth is
the program you ran here is the same program. Just run it again and again
and again. That's what I know. Thank you to this class, to this institution
is my honor. Thank you."*

*PEGGY HERE*

*I believe that some of us can apply some of these ideas to our UU
community...I love it because so many people are so much smarter than I am,
or smarter in different ways...and they are just so cool and spiritually
advanced**…..they bring me up where I belong  OH DO YOU KNOW THAT **SONG??
See my first post **attached separately *

 *..and many of them accept me..AND THEY HAVE COFFEE AND SNACKS.*

*What's better than that? *

*MY BIG IDEA *

*We start a Facebook group online…. We can make it public/private…whatever.
*

* NO MODERATOR.... you don't have to officially associate with UU....we
could call it MISS LONELYHEARTS and MR. LONELYHEARTS AND NON GENDERED
LONELYHEARTS.  DETAILS TO BE WORKED OUT….*

*Whatever...something  silly...*

*If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done.*

                            *Ludwig Wittgenstein*
<https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/ludwig-wittgenstein-quotes>

*We ask people to post each week……A book that changed their life, or a song
that may or may not be well known…but that everybody should hear, or a
movie that really made them think. *

* You can post…and read the suggestions of others…. you can ignore stuff or
check stuff out…. hop on or off whenever you want….*

* No requirements…. JUST have fun trading ideas with your friends.*

*                           “And that’s all I have to say about that.”*

Source: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/05/30/jo...
<https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/05/30/john-krasinski-brown-university-baccalaureate-address>

*Enjoyed this speech?* Speakola is a labour of love and I’d be very
grateful if you would share, tweet or like it. Thank you.

See second attachment for an example.
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