Greetings!

Meet Ms. Hannigan. (Remember her from the story Annie?) She’s had a hard-knock life. And she takes it out on all those kids! She has a certain amount of power, but she’s unsettled and unhappy. She’s stuck in the system, and she abuses the system; she’s lured by money and lies in order to gain more money.

Seems these days we are all having our version of a hard-knock life! Can life get any crazier? Global pandemic, anti-racism protests, hours of zooming, a contentious presidential election, the loss of the inimitable Ruth Bader Ginsberg, socially distanced church services, huge fires here on the west coast … and each of us can add our own particular family and life challenges to our list of crazy. 

And perhaps in all of this, we are being asked to look at the ways that we are Ms. Hannigan, holding tight to our little spheres of influence and power, while the world is asking us to release our comfortable niches and see things in a whole new way. 

Enter Annie. She’s an orphan, a marginalized young girl, and yet she has a vision for how life might be better tomorrow, and her spirit is indomitable! She’s not afraid to create community wherever she goes, she sings and dances her cares and hopes, she builds bridges between the powerful and the oppressed. Perhaps she has a gift for us in these crazy times! 

So why Annie? This summer I had a very special time dancing, playing and creating with my grandnieces and grandnephew in a two-week visit to Michigan. And the story that we played with was Annie. (You may remember I enacted Wizard of Oz with them a few years back.) It so happens that there was a remake of the musical in 2014 with various of the main characters being played by People of Color, and so was perfect for our little family unit, with a new relevance for our world today. 

So, if you scroll down to the bottom of this blog, you get to see our video rendition of Annie (in which I play Ms. Hannigan, of course!) 

Meanwhile, what are our “Annie” practices? We need our heart-opening prayer, we need deep breaths, we need our play, we need our family and friends, we need our walks outdoors, our time for laughing and our time for crying. We need our creative outlets and we need our dance! We need to be working on our uncomfortable edges to grow more courageous, and we need to soften and be compassionate with ourselves in these times of upheaval. 

Here is our family’s playful version of Annie created with my beloved grandnieces/ nephew (and a few other willing family members.) I even got to throw in a liturgical dance as Ms. Hannigan … (when she has her change of heart, of course!) Let’s all pray that our “tomorrow” of no COVID will come soon. Meanwhile, let’s live our days with love, laughter and deep compassion for one another. (P.S. … if you only have a short time, the first 3 minutes are totally worth the click!) 

The last line of the story is – “I don’t need anything but you!”

xo, Betsey

Betsey Beckman, MM

Greetings!

Sometimes the world seems a bit too challenging to bear. The summer sun in Seattle shines brightly, and yet the underbelly of our society’s weaknesses are exposed with new awareness of racism, sexism, and global pandemic. Each day my heart is longing for simpler days of family, faith and community, while I am asked to stand in new places of truth-telling, courage, and discomfort with a heart of peace and justice. 

Before these challenging days were upon us, I felt called to organize a reunion. Fifty years ago, I was in the 7th grade at Sacred Heart Academy in Cincinnati, and I learned my beloved school was about to close its doors. I took my first dance class at Sacred Heart! I wrote my first poem at Sacred Heart! I made my First Communion at Sacred Heart! I learned about the evils of slavery and the heart of Christ. Mary watched over us and I felt her feminine wisdom guiding me. At my young age, I was devastated that our little community would close its doors.

Here’s a poem I wrote in 1970 –

Fast forward 50 years , and it turns out that my cousin has recently purchased a condo in the “lovely old Sacred Heart” building … and not only that, this condo is in the Chapel of the old building! So that was the clincher: I organized a reunion of our 7th grade class … most of whom I hadn’t seen in literally 50 years, and we were to regather in our beloved place of origin! Well, COVID had other ideas, so we ended up with a ZOOM reunion , which had its own beauty! 

All of this is to say that in these challenging times, I revisited the place of my beautiful budding child self, and embraced her with joy. I want to share the slide show I created for this grand occasion. May it stir in you the memory of the heart of love that created you and us all. May the Sacred Heart of love continue to plant in us the courage to live with generosity, honesty, faith, creativity and community. 

I am fortunate to live with my husband, Charlie Bommarito, a passionate musician who creates music in our house daily. Since we are not able to have large gatherings at the moment, I’m sharing here a summer music creation by his/our band Percolations (also featuring our son, Chaz.) For this video, I am the videographer and editor … (and you can see my surprise appearances at 9:14 and 10:40.) Kick off your shoes and join me in the dance of summer!

Our son, Chaz is contemplating some changes of direction – so it’s a special treat to have this co-creation before larger shifts happen in the fabric of our lives. May the music of summer soothe your soul for the joy and challenges of living! 

Stay healthy. Sending prayers, music, and dances from our heart to yours!

Betsey

Betsey Beckman, MM