I actually have something deep to say here, but before I can spin out out you must induldge me. Everyone from my era will watch this video from ABBA and have an emotional reaction. Perhaps younger people will as well (other than, “Duh, Mom, you all looked like morons.”) Please watch this and then hop below the fold for the deeper ideas.
Link to ABBA Dancing Queen Video
In the 1970’s I was a teenager heading toward manhood (still working on that arrival based on comments I’ve made on Facebook.) And I remember something from that time that I’d like you to ponder before you go on about your day: fear. No matter who you were in 1976 you heard ABBA on the radio, in the school gym at the dance, in the rec room of the apartment building where all the nerds were gathered for a party and – fear. You were fearful that you would never be popular, accepted, in love, a good dancer, or someone that could be held in esteem. The songs of your time, whether it was the 40’s or the 2010’s hold a key to your memories unlike any other sense for most Americans.
Now that you’ve flashed back on that horrible, hollow feeling and admitted it to yourself I have a challenge for you: reach out to someone who is feeling like that today. It might be your daughter or son (because this whole thing is driven by their bodies going crazy for 8 years or so of puberty) or perhaps to a friend or coworker who never recovered from the angst of their teenage years.
Perhaps they were rejected by their peers. Perhaps they never had any peers but operated in a vacuum of self doubt. I was lucky and blessed: God led me from that wilderness and gave me a strong enough identity to make it in this life. But we all know people who still cringe when “The Dancing Queen” of their life is played. People who are hurting today as a result of that inability to socialize effectively. People who still feel the slights of a missed post on Facebook, an unreturned voice mail, or a slight at the company picnic. None of which were intended to hurt, but because of their vulnerability they feel as though they have been wounded to the quick.
Take that time today to reach out. Who in your world shies away from the radio when “your” song plays. How can you include them and help them to live with some of the joy we know in our lives.
Sorry to wander down the ABBA trail again, but the special I watched hit that nerve. You can find it over at Hulu.com. I’ve embedded it below and provided a link here.
I hope blessings follow you today. And your radio is a source of joy.
You touched on something really sad here. Too many never recovered from their teenage angst. It then became their adult angst and colored the rest of their lives.