"Feelin' Ain't Bein' "

 

You probably remember or have seen the iconic 1971 Coca-Cola television commercial about "teaching the world to sing" while sharing a Coke.  It was almost a mini-movie with a large international cast and a very cool location on an Italian hillside.  Despite being an advertisement, a brief experience generally as welcome as a pebble in your shoe, it could be called well-loved because it elicited such warm emotions, right up there with kittens, puppies and Clydesdale horses.  And once your emotions are at the forefront, your reason takes a break.  Think about that TV spot for a few moments, and all that good feeling was really about selling you a drink made of carbon dioxide, sugar, brown dye, caffeine and flavorings.  Emotional manipulation will lead or drive you to do things which are not in your best interest at all.

 The title above refers to one of the two things I remember that were on the walls of the tiny front office of WFMV-FM (classical music station in Richmond, VA, long gone).  One was a big grinning frog face ("Frog Music of Virginia" was our inside joke), the other was that hard to parse three-word aphorism.  I think our manager, Mr. Bill Massie, put it there, but I never did get the chance to ask him where it came from or really meant. I decided over the years that it meant don't be led by your emotions; use your head instead.

Scam and con artists have taken full advantage of the public this year of the viral pandemic and angry mobs at rallies and in the streets.  With all sorts of emotion engulfing us and making it hard to think clearly, we are easy targets for everyone from propagandists to ad people to that one percent of the population who are psychopaths.  And they're all very experienced at exploiting our fears and vulnerabilities.  From a recent magazine article:  Strong emotions can hijack our logical reasoning.  Fraudsters say the key to cheating people is to get them into a heightened emotional state so they can easily be manipulated.

So, what to do?  

There are ways to carefully and thoughtfully find a healthy balance to resist this onslaught.  Work on consciously repressing and controlling your negative emotions.  Back off and refresh yourself (I find nature, animals and music -- not all types, for sure -- do work).  And you, in distancing, can find some humor in others' crude attacks.  Keep your armor on. Make the effort to learn, adapt and change in order to put today's conditions into perspective and master your own reactions.  If you have a big purpose in life to propel you forward, great; if you can't quite think of one, just plant, improve or fix something. Thousands of waving flags, whether in North Korea, Nazi Germany, Red Square or on pickup trucks recently can't have any power over you if you are master of your domain (not exactly what they meant on Seinfeld, but I think that describes you in your armor).

"Listen to Your Heart"  was a popular song you probably heard on the car radio. But also know where your lane is and don't be fooled into driving into the ditch.