Jingle All the Way?
October, 2020
Find Your Best Carol for This October
I hate most ads on network television stations, don’t you? If you have the capacity to DVR a TV show, you can fast-forward through the commercial breaks pretty swiftly. But if you are watching TV in real time, you’re subjected to the ads. Ugh.
I’m reluctant to mention the Liberty Mutual Insurance ads because their closing jingle has such high potential to become an earworm. Like it or not, I often find myself singing along when the commercial ends with “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty . . . Liberty.” [If you can tolerate an example, here’s one of their 30-second ads.]
Jingles are an effective tool for the advertising industry and they are meant to be catchy. I am both impressed with the marketing and musical talents who come up with these brief songs, and I would like to strangle them! You agree?
But WAIT. Why not make up a different kind of jingle? We’ve got such a pile-up of bummers going on in our daily lives this year . . . what if there’s a jingle that could lift your spirits rather than annoy the heck outta you?
My jingle-all-the-way carol for this challenging time steals the melody of the aforementioned ad, and simply changes the repeated lyric from liberty to levity.
“Levity, Levity, Levity . . . Levity!”
This quick song reminds me that if I want to balance out what can be 24/7 access to extremely upsetting news, I’ve got to seek that which will make me smile, minimally, or laugh out loud, optimally.
It’s so easy to get fixated on the news feed. Smart phones have us constantly receiving updates on what’s happening (unless we alter our notification settings). I’m no better than the next person at avoiding this roller coaster of drama. But now, if I catch myself going down the rabbit hole feeling like everything is messed up with no real end in sight, I employ my jingle. It’s not intended as a don’t-feel-your-feelings message but rather, a nudge to remind me I can control what gets my attention.
From there, I go to my own Prompts for Joy page to find links to short videos that are guaranteed to alter my mood or mindset. Sometimes I go to clips sent to me by friends, or that I’ve stumbled on via social media. This month’s Prompts for Joy (see below) are two amongst many videos that have repeatedly lifted me to more levity.
Videos needn’t be your only source of levity. After all, being on the computer or other devices too much may be what’s bringing your spirits down! You could play a card or board game with people (with proper social distancing of course) whose emphasis is on the playing rather than the winning. You could listen or dance to uplifting music. Or you could watch kids of the human or animal variety at play. Etc.
Last week, I asked a dear friend if she was depressed by what’s going on in the world right now. She didn’t hesitate with her answer: “nah, I’ve got two kittens!” She’s got guaranteed “levity, levity, levity . . . levity” in her midst!
How can you bring more levity to your life? Feel free to borrow my jingle or devise one that’s tailored to you! You could share it in the comments below if you’d like!
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Prompts For Joy
Click here for some comical, insistent cats.
(Michael Sally, thanks again!)
Click here and I bet you can’t just watch it once!
Click here for all previous Prompts for Joy.
Pictured Above
Top: Levity in the Form of a Cat (Wink, Wink). Photo by Martha Clark Scala
Below: A sample page from Chapter 19 in my memoir, Assembling a Life: Claiming the Artist in My Father (and Myself).
Assembling a Life: Claiming the Artist in My Father (and Myself) by Martha Clark Scala
"A remarkable book that honors the author’s father the way only a loving daughter could, shows the methods she used to research his enigmatic history, and beautifully displays photos of their art. "
~ Robert Davis, Author of The Ticker,
Will to Kill and more.
Sample page from Chapter 19. This memoir is loaded with color photos (and some black and white) on just about every page. A visual feast.
To purchase the premium softcover or e-book versions of Assembling a Life, click here.
Why Assemble a Life? An Interview with Author and Artist, Martha Clark Scala
What motivated me to write Assembling a Life: Claiming the Artist in My Father (and Myself)? Check out this video to find out. Comments and feedback welcome!
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