Time of the Season

Hello all, sorry I'm a little late this week. I usually try to have something out by Monday at the latest. But unfortunately, I wasn't able to get much sleep Sunday night and it really affected my overall ability to function. However, I just want to say : Yes! It is that time of the season again. We finally have some consistently warm weather! And when I say we, I mean those of us that live in places that have seasons with changing temperatures. And when I say we I also mean those that enjoy the heat. For me it can almost never get too hot. But for some 75-80 Degrees feels like being in hell. No matter how you look at it, the weather does affect us in many ways. There have even been studies that show people who live in colder climates or places with less sunlight have a greater chance of having depression and other mood disorders. But I'll try to focus on the positive end of things right now and just be grateful that the warm weather is back! I should point out that this is National Mental Health Awareness Month, so I think we should be mindful of small things we can do to improve and maintain good mental health.

I actually decided on this title after being reminded of the band that wrote and performed the song "Time of the Season", The Zombies. These days that mentality seems to be the norm. We keep on getting suggestions or orders on how we should be living, and we're expected to just go along with it like zombies (and some people actually do). There I go being negative again, sorry but after all I am human and not a zombie(sorry not sorry to upset certain people). When the band members, including keyboardist Rod Argent (who wrote time of the season) were recording the song they were fighting with each other so much that lead singer Colin Blunstone recalls the irony of singing the line : "It's the time of the season for loving" which was clearly not the atmosphere in which this song was made. Even though this song was written the same day it was recorded, and the band broke up shortly after it's release it still topped the US charts. But as the old adage "you're never a prophet in your own village" goes, it did not make the charts in the band's home, the UK. the Zombies did reunite and can be seen on tour. For me this song is pretty much a definitive of the 1960s. A time reminiscent of or looked at fondly for peace,love,unity and a broadscope of ever expanding ideals and possibilities. For those that weren't alive then only have images like those in the video I included below. It's one of those songs when they have a flashback (no pun intended) sequence on TV or a movie and this song automatically gets cued up. An episode of The Simpsons comes to mind where Homer (the blundering son of a 60's radical activist) accidentally doses some beverages with hallucinogens that were being produced by old Hippy friends of his Mother's. Although we live in different times now, I think that some of the ideals of that time should be taken into consideration when we are faced with decisions from our government that directly affect how we live our lives. The idea back then was to question what was being handed to us,being informed and band together against injustice with peaceful protests and demonstrations. Unfortunately not many young people do that now and the young people of that generation are most affected by Health crisis that we are dealing with Worldwide. When all this started, I chose to trust my gut and although it cost me some "friends" I have no regrets. It reminds me of a quote I made a few years ago :

"They will prey on the ignorant and resent the knowledgeable. I strive to be resented.

I really can't believe we live in a time where you're supposed to just sit back and watch your rights slowly be taken away and if you do exercise your right to speak out, you're considered to be crazy or stupid or a number of other labels given to you by the immature hiding behind a computer screen. Even when presented with concrete evidence of something people metaphorically stick their fingers in their ears and try to drown you out. I think we should always try to inform ourselves on every side of the argument. Especially now since it's literally a life-or-death situation that's affecting everybody. But yet dividing us. I know I said that a number of times, but sometimes being redundant is necessary to get your point across.

I'm really looking forward to what this warm weather is going to bring us. Even though on the coldest days, we should all be grateful that we were here to wake up for it. There's always going to be that experience of this past year rattling around in our heads. But, we have plenty of lost time that we should make up for. With being forced to abide by guidelines that prevent the smallest bit of contact, there may be an increased backlash of people wanting to express Freedom again. I don't think it's going to transform into the flower-power generation again. But, it's pretty much a scientific fact that anything or anyone that has been pressured to stay down for too long ends up pushing in the opposite direction in an almost volcanic way from being held down for so long with such force. It's happened so many times throughout history. From the rebellious teenagers, to other oppressed societies as a whole. I find it almost foolish that they think that they can scare everybody so intensely that this mutable law of physics will cease to exist. We shall see…

Thanks again for reading everybody, I hope you take full advantage of the nice weather and attempt to make up for the time stolen from us this past year. Until next time, Be well.

Nate,xoxo

For more information about Mental Health Awareness, please visit : NAMI.org