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Cheryl Hughes: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Mother Teresa said, “We fear the future, because we are wasting today.”  For some people, that statement needs to be amended to, “We fear the future, because we THINK we are wasting today.”

Case in point: My friend who underwent cancer treatment in the midst of summer garden season.  She continued to process, can and freeze her garden’s abundance right up until frost, all while taking cancer treatments.  One day, she made the comment that maybe she needed to have more blood work done, because she didn’t know why she didn’t have any energy.  I know why.  Her average day would put a healthy eighteen-year-old in traction, let alone decrease the energy of a cancer patient.  She was not wasting today.

Our society tends to hold up people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the late Steve Jobs as prototypes of people who are not wasting their lives.  Just remember, the woman whose words opened this column was a nun from the order of the Missionaries of Charity.  She and her sisters from the order were based in Calcutta, India.  Daily, they went out into the slums of that city to rescue the outcasts who were dying.  They gave them a place to die with dignity.  She admonished one young nun, who was holding a dying infant, to make sure that child knew she was loved before she left this world.

“Do not waste today” is a different directive for each individual.  

Do you know the name, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole?  Maybe you don’t, but I bet you’ve heard his song.  This is the story of his most famous recording, according to inverse.com.  Israel (born in 1959)l was a Hawaiian singer who grew up on the island Ni’ihau.  It is the only Hawaiian island with a population that is 100 percent Hawaiian.  You are only allowed to visit if you have an invitation from a resident there.  Growing up among his own people and their music had a powerful influence on the young man.  Israel (also known as IZ) and his brother, Skippy, formed a band in 1976, performing and popularizing Hawaiian music.  By 1990, IZ had released a solo album.  

But…let’s go back to 1988.  In 1988, a recording studio manager by the name of Milan Bertosa was ready to close for the night.  It was 3 a.m. and it had been a long day.  The phone rang, he answered and on the other end of the call was a regular client who needed a favor.  The client put Israel Kamakawiwo’ole on the phone.  IZ had an idea for a song that had to be recorded right then.  The exhausted Bertosa said yes, and fifteen minutes later, “…in walks the largest human being I had seen in my life,” Bertosa told NPR in an interview.  (Israel suffered obesity most of his life, weighing in at 757 pounds at one point.)

Bertosa set up microphones and did a quick soundcheck before rolling tape.  IZ, with only a Ukulele and his voice, sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”  It was over in just one take.  Bertosa kept the master tape and gave Israel a copy.  That version of the song was featured on the album, FACING FUTURE, a 1993 solo album by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.  The album became one of the best-selling Hawaiian music albums ever, certified platinum in 2005.  Bertosa would remark later, “Whatever was going on that night, he was inspired.  It was like we just caught the moment.”  In 1997, nine years after recording that iconic version of “Over the Rainbow,” Israel Kamakawiwo’ole was dead at age 38.  IZ was not just a musician to the Hawaiian people.  He was also an activist for the rights of native Hawaiians.  On the day of his funeral, the Hawaiian flag flew at half-staff.  Hundreds of people showed up to celebrate his life (inverse.com).

Why did I include this story in a column about not wasting today?  Because sometimes, not wasting today happens at 3 a.m., and it includes something that won’t wait until the next day.  Not wasting today doesn’t always include sending a Space-X rocket into outer space or founding a company like Amazon or Apple.  Most of us will never have a “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” moment, however, not wasting today takes many forms.  It gets up at 5 a.m. to get your kids off to school and yourself off to work.  Not wasting today pays your rent and your electric bill or your house payment.  It takes care of an aging parent, and it is kind to a downtrodden child.  If you’ve done any of those things, give yourself a pat on the back, because you haven’t wasted today.

(Do yourself a favor and check out IZ’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on YouTube.  There is a version that features bonus footage from the celebration at his funeral, as well.)

 

  

 
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