Does the Sparkler Feel a Little Dimmer This Year?

Does the sparkle feel a little dimmer this year? This time on Wi's Thoughts, It's time for a virtual campfire sit down with Terry Weiss. Welcome to Weiss Bought. Hey, everybody, welcome back to the podcast. Welcome to Weis's Thoughts on our virtual campfire sit down. I am so glad that you've decided to spend some of your valuable time with me today and it is much appreciated. Make sure you visit the website Weissthoughts dot com. Just make sure you spell my name right, wy Ce Weiss Thoughts dot com. There you can listen to each and every episode of this podcast, leave a comment if you'd like, and also review the podcast. I'd appreciate it. You can also do that on your favorite podcast provider. Wherever you listen to Weis's Thoughts and do us a favor. Also, would you share us with your friends, your families, and neighbors and pets. Tell them about Wi's thoughts and what else we got? Oh yeah, Purplepittstudios dot com. Check out all the podcasts there, and if you need any kind of voiceover work done for your audiobook commercial, what have you? Narration videos YouTube channel, YouTube channel being getting a lot of that lately. You got a YouTube channel and you want to do some video narration for that for some videos you put out or you know, little blurbs. Just go to Weissproductions dot com. All right, enough shameless self promotion, shall we Let's get right into the podcast today, and I want to talk about something that I've been thinking about. You know, does the sparkle feel a little dimmer this year? You know, we are just you know, this week with a just the fourth of July just a few days away, our national anniversary has been on my mind. It really has. It's a time that's always been marked by a certain kind of magic, hasn't it. The smell of freshly cut grass and barbecue smoke mingling in the air, the boom of fireworks echoing through the neighborhood. I'm the taste of that slightly too sweet red white and blue sheet cake. Have you ever had those? Oh? I tell you some of those. You get some of those and like whoa, you know, it's like sugar rush. But for many of us, these are core memories forged in the backyard celebrations and community parades of our youth. But as I sit here by our virtual campfire this week, I find myself wondering, does the sparkle feel a little dimmer this year? I'm just, you know, just wondering. Now. I don't get me wrong, I mean, I'm a fan of a good celebration. I like a good party as much as the next person. Believe me. The history buff and me geeks out a bit at the fact that we're celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and it's fascinating a bit of trivia, you know. John Adams, one of the key figures in our independence, thought we should be celebrating on July second, the day that the Continental Congress actually voted for independence. He apparently turned down the Fourth of July party invitations in protest. Definitely a man of principle, you know, I mean, come on, let's be honest. You've got to respect that, you know, you really do. But the fourth has always been more than just an historical date. It's been a symbol, a symbol of unity, of shared values, of a collective American identity. We come together from all walks of life to watch the same fireworks light up the same sky. There's a power, my friends, in that shared experience. Lately, though, it feels like we're not looking at the same sky, doesn't it. Maybe we are, but we're seeing vastly different things. A recent poll I saw from Yugov suggests that national pride is that on all time low, and it seems like for every person enthusiastically waving a flag, there's someone else asking what to the American is the fourth of July? Echoing the powerful words of Frederick Douglas back in eighteen fifty two. Douglas was a formally enslaved man and a brilliant abolitionist. He pointed out the star hypocrisy of celebrating freedom in a nation that practiced slavery, and that question still hangs in the air for many. For some Native Americans, it's a reminder of a declaration that referred to their ancestors as merciless Indian savages. For many people of color, it's a complete holiday and complex as well, celebrating ideals that haven't always been extended to them. And it's not just about historical grievance. I see it in the conversations happening online in the community. There are planned economic blackouts and protests with people choosing to reclaim the day with solidarity and silence as a statement of how our country is being run. It seems Fourth of July is becoming less of a universally joyous holiday and more of a complicated one if you think about it. And then there are the more practical, everyday concerns that are dimming the sparkle for some the cost of everything from hot dogs to gasoline or for that trip to see the family. It's weighing on some people. That same YouGov dot pole found that over half of Americans are planning to spend less on the holiday this year. It's hard to feel celebratory when you're worried about the groceryville, isn't it. So? What does this mean to be patriotic in the year twenty twenty five? Does it mean you have to ignore the parts of our history that are painful or the parts of our present that are challenging. I don't think so, I really don't. Maybe true patriots and my friends, the kind that lasts isn't about blind allegiance. Maybe just maybe it's about having the courage to look at the whole picture, the beautiful and the broken. Maybe it's about acknowledging that the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is a work in progress, and that it's our job to keep working at it. Right, I mean, that seems logical and like common sense. Next year, in twenty twenty six, will be marking the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. There's already a White House task Force Task Force two fifty planning a grand celebration, and I can't help but think that this moment right now is a crucial time for reflection. What do we want that two hundred and fiftieth celebration to look like? What do we want it to mean? Do we want to have a hollow spectacle or do we want it to be genuine and a genuine reflection of a nation that is wrestling with its past and engaging in our present, but still striving to build a more perfect union for all of its citizens. So, as you gather with your friends and family this week, as you watch those fireworks burst in the sky, I invite you to think about this day and what it means to you. The fourth of July. What are you celebrating, what are you hoping for? Maybe this year are gathering around the virtual campfire on the fourth of July can be a space for these kinds of questions, a space to acknowledge the complexities without losing hope, in a space to remember that the fire of our nation's ideals, even when it seems to flicker, is kept alive by our willingness as citizens to tend to it, to question it, and to believe in its potential to warm us. All. That's about all the time we have for this week on Wye's Thoughts. I'm Terry Weiss and I'm so glad you joined me around the virtual campfire. And until next time, stay thoughtful, stay engaged, be good to yourself, and be good to others, and have a safe, happy and meaningful fourth of July. Hey, thanks for listening to the program today. I truly appreciate each and every one of you out there. And remember to see a change in the world, you have to be the change in the world you want to see. It all starts with you, a person looking back at you in the mirror every morning. Remember to be kind to yourself, be kind to others. If you want to tweet at me on Twitter, it's at Terry Weiss, stop by the website Wis's thoughts dot com just to make sure you spell my name right, wys Wiys's thoughts dot com, and hey, leave us a positive rating and review on your favorite podcast provider. Won't you tell your friends, tell your family, tell your pets about White's Thoughts, and I look forward to gathering yet again around the virtual campfire with you real soon. Take care is the