These are emotional times.
My mentor, friend and great supporter, Marcia Burnam recently departed us. She was 92 years old. To me, as to many, she was invincible, until COVID-19 took her.
It made all this suddenly feel very real.
I was incredibly emotional about it.
These are emotional times.
Her funeral was on Zoom.
Her amazing rabbi, who I adore, is a dear friend and colleague.
He gently read what people wrote about her including one of my blogs that I wrote about her.
He spoke meaningful words and sang our traditional songs. I cried.
It was very emotional.
These are emotional times.
The next day the shiva service (the traditional service Jews observe when someone dies) was held online for her.
Sadly, this is the third or fourth Zoom shiva I have attended these past few weeks.
What struck me at this particular Zoom service, that I found to be incredibly beautiful, was that many people were wearing really nice clothes as they sat in their houses to be at this Zoom gathering. Some were even in suits and ties.
The fact that people got dressed up and wanted to look their best in memory of this wonderful woman touched me to my core. Again, I found myself being incredibly emotional.
These are emotional times.
Decades ago, my friend Marcia adopted an Ethiopian son.
I am in awe of this act and hope to be in a position to do something like this in years to come.
It was beyond wonderful that he could join us from Ethiopia via Zoom at this service.
When he spoke, he shared with us, “This loss is not a great loss for me. It is the greatest loss of my life.”
It made me think of the fact that so many people are suffering great losses during this crazy time. Loss of plans made, loss of parties, loss of trips, graduations, culminations, jobs, income and, of course, worst of all, the loss of loved ones.
We are all enduring great losses.
Indeed, these are emotional times.
I am teaching a bunch of virtual classes.
Something about seeing everyone at their house in these little boxes on my computer screen makes me emotional.
There is something intimate and close even though we are far apart.
We are all together and then, I end the Zoom meeting and in one swipe – bam – everyone is gone.
My heart skips a beat when everyone disappears.
Thank goodness my house is filled with people and voices.
If I were alone in an empty house, I think it would be very hard.
These are emotional times.
I tell my students it’s okay.
We can and should be emotional.
These are difficult times. We have feelings and, now more than ever, we need to share them. We need to touch those feelings. We need to take care of them. We need to be aware of them.
The thing about emotions is that if we don’t pay attention to them, they tend to grow and may quickly turn on us and on the people that we love.
It’s okay to be emotional in emotional times.
It is important to own our emotions and do something about them even if that means just sitting with those emotions and acknowledging them.
There is no need to pretend that everything is okay.
There is no need to pretend that this is easy.
In a recent class a student said, “I need to get out of my head and continue to have faith.”
Another student shared what he learned in jail is to change the channel in his head. “Switch the channel when it isn’t on a station you like.”
Their words are becoming my new mantra.
Get out of my head. Have faith. Switch the channel.
Get out of my head.
I don’t know about you, but, man, my head is working overtime.
Good to work on getting the hell out of it.
Faith.
Believe in someone or something and hold on to it.
Be consistent and don’t give up even if you have a bad day.
That is actually what faith is about.
Switch the channel.
Not only switch that channel but create a new one.
Imagine what you want.
Imagine where you will go.
See what you crave.
Those are the first steps to getting there.
These students of mine are incredible.
I am so lucky to have them to remind me how to be better and get better.
I think of them, how brave they are. I get a little emotional.
These are emotional times.
My dear friend Marcia once said, “The only thing you can keep in life is what you give away.”
Oh, she was a smart woman.
So, my dear people, in these emotional times, give away.
Give more.
Give something.
Everything you give will be yours to keep.
Stay Safe.
Stay Healthy.
Don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers.
Naomi Ackerman is a Mom, activist, writer, performer, and the founder and Executive Director of The Advot (ripple) Project a registered 501(c)3 that uses theatre and the arts to empower youth at risk to live their best life.
