The Song Greg Barton Heard Immediately After Finishing My Audio Book

The song that Greg Barton heard immediately after finishing the audio book version of DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal: A Harvest of Memories from the Fan Who Knew Him Best affected him to the core of his being.

 

“It was destiny that it should come on just as the last voice mails in your brilliant book faded away” he wrote me in an IM.

 

The song is called Compass (from the Red Dead Redemption Original Soundtrack). The lyric most often repeated in it is this:

 

“And now I know the only compass that I need

Is the one that leads back to you.”

 

I have been thinking about this exact thing a lot lately.

 

Have you noticed how much ruder and cruder the world has become in the years since De passed away? I sure have!

 

Civility seems to have been sacrificed on the altar of “politically incorrect” and “let it all hang out.”

 

If you’re mean inside, be mean outside. If you’re racist, sexist, xenophobic inside, be that way outside. BE TRANSPARENT!

 

The trouble with transparency with too many people is that what’s inside them  is critical, crabby, intolerant, fear-based, and just plain UGLY!

 

Civilization itself seems to be floating on a flimsy veneer these days.

 

It’s one of the reasons I started wearing a COMPLAINT-FREE WORLD bracelet–to remind myself of the discourse and comfort that always prevailed whenever I was in the presence of DeForest Kelley.

 

The man never complained. He was capable of expressing his wants, needs, frustrations and disagreements without becoming a verbal butcher.

 

He was never cruel, unkind or callous in any way.

 

As a sort of chameleon myself, I have always tended to fall into the vibe and verbalization of the people I hang with.

 

This is terrific when it’s people like De, terrible when it’s chronically dissatisfied, frustrated, complaining folks.

 

And too much of the world seems to be chronically dissatisfied and critical! Look at the comments on any news or entertainment article almost anywhere and you’ll see what I mean:

 

There are more bashers and trashers than there are thoughtful voices and minds, which tends to make me want to bash and trash back after a while. Which is a stupid way to behave! (Note: I only use the term stupid when I really mean it.)

 

While I agree that there is plenty to be dissatisfied and critical about, complaining doesn’t solve the problem or fix anything. (My male brain insists on fixing things or getting them fixed. Complaining alone, without sufficient proactive action to correct what’s wrong, drives me up the wall!)

 

Remaining civil, winning others to your cause, and devoting yourself to positive change in the direction of your goals is what fixes things. Everything else is just flailing, acting like a toddler having a temper tantrum.  Most people are going to walk away; the rest are going to stare for a time and shake their heads… and then walk away.

 

Only the people in the tantrum-thrower’s immediate “family” are going to have to put up with it time after time, or correct it artfully, so tantrums don’t reliably become a means to a desired end…

 

So I really, really, really need to spiritually “walk with De” (who walked in decency) every time I go anywhere–even to my Facebook page!

 

Walking with De makes life sooooo much more pleasant, honorable…and downright do-able.

 

So thanks for the song, Greg, which I have saved to play every time I “forget.”

 

It helps remind me…

 

“And now I know the only compass that I need

Is the one that leads back to you.”