My brain has been known to find an odd connection or two regarding human behavior and events. For those of you suffering from insomnia, please enjoy:
The talented and troubled actress Frances Farmer died on August 1, 1970 and The Rock 106.9 WCCC aired its final broadcast on the same day 44 years later. The Seattle-born Farmer was outspoken, defiant, and rebellious; similar words could be used to describe Hartford’s most notorious rock radio station. The latter was appropriately known as The Asylum, while the former was actually institutionalized in one.
As we reach the one-year anniversary of the end of an era in
Connecticut radio, and for some, a significant chapter in our lives,
it’s hard not to reflect back. There has been growth and accomplishment
as well as loss. Such losses may be jarring, whether expected or not.
So as this first anniversary approaches, I’m feeling the loss on a few levels. I see now that loyalty is one of the most difficult things to sustain in our personal and professional lives. One of the most respected people I knew told me, “There is no such thing as loyalty anymore” shortly before he died last November, and it broke my heart that he departed believing that. It further saddened me to realize I agreed with him. Maya Angelou said, “If someone shows you who they are, believe them.” Past behavior is indeed the best predictor of future behavior, yet we often try to excuse such evidence. This has been a challenge for me to accept over the last year.
However, I have learned a cautionary lesson (or twenty) from Frances Farmer and another moody/brilliant/deceased Washington-state native, so graceful acceptance is coming a little easier than chaos and drama these days.
I consider that progress.
“In her false witness,
We hope you’re still with us,
To see if they float or drown…
She’ll come back as fire,
To burn all the liars,
And leave a blanket of ash on the ground…”
-‘Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle’
Nirvana, In Utero (1993)
(Lyrics: Kurt Cobain)
So as this first anniversary approaches, I’m feeling the loss on a few levels. I see now that loyalty is one of the most difficult things to sustain in our personal and professional lives. One of the most respected people I knew told me, “There is no such thing as loyalty anymore” shortly before he died last November, and it broke my heart that he departed believing that. It further saddened me to realize I agreed with him. Maya Angelou said, “If someone shows you who they are, believe them.” Past behavior is indeed the best predictor of future behavior, yet we often try to excuse such evidence. This has been a challenge for me to accept over the last year.
However, I have learned a cautionary lesson (or twenty) from Frances Farmer and another moody/brilliant/deceased Washington-state native, so graceful acceptance is coming a little easier than chaos and drama these days.
I consider that progress.
“In her false witness,
We hope you’re still with us,
To see if they float or drown…
She’ll come back as fire,
To burn all the liars,
And leave a blanket of ash on the ground…”
-‘Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle’
Nirvana, In Utero (1993)
(Lyrics: Kurt Cobain)
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