Of Songs, Butterflies, And Justice

Keep fighting for each other with love and ferocity

This week was supposed to be the bonus post in the Modern Loneliness series. I've been very distracted by current events on the immigration front. I call it an "immigration front" because of how ICE agents show up to immigration raids as if they are hunting suicide jihadis bombers in the deserts of Afghanistan.

Last night, I attended a private concert with Chris Pierce, and his newest song (only performed on IG right now, but soon to be on his newest album) moved me to tears.

You can hear "The Madonna of San Juaquin" even if you don't have Instagram. Just X through the sign-in pop-up and click on the image.

iamchrispierce

A post shared by @iamchrispierce

"Listen with your heart and pass it on to whoever needs to hear it. Keep fighting for each other with love and ferocity." Chris Pierce

You can also find him on Spotify. Check out American Silence and the rest of his artful music.

It's not possible to discuss Modern Loneliness without mentioning the chilling, isolating effects of politics. I did a bit of that in "How Politics Makes Us Lonely." I’m going a little further today, in a roundabout way.

If you are a paid subscriber, you can always visit the Archives and catch up on articles you might have missed. Lately, there have been some political ones. I usually focus on psychology and relationships, but how can I ignore politics when that's the background of our American experience? So, I go there. Reluctantly, but I do. My voice is small and quiet in the corner of the internet universe, but I am using it.

I live on the Central Coast of California. We have the Monarch Grove preservation area, where millions of Monarch butterflies come every November to spend the winter in the branches of the eucalyptus trees. They clump together, hanging like ripe, multicolored grapes. Silently, each one flutters its wings, floating from one place to another. But occasionally, a whole cluster will break apart under some imperceptible to the human ear cue. Then, if you're lucky enough to witness this, you'll hear the sound of their otherwise silent wings!!!

Which takes me to…