Life is a Banquet

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“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!” ~ Rosalind Russell as Auntie Mame in Auntie Mame (1958)

“Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, and don’t get so worked up about things.” ~ Kenneth Branagh

“If you’re always strict with yourself, life gets miserable. And we’re supposed to enjoy life.” ~ Mia Maestro

It’s interesting how old things become new again. I was scrolling Facebook the other day and came across a post by someone on the TCM group about Angela Lansbury’s career. It happened to be her birthday. It would have been her 98th birthday. She was one of three or four actresses to play an iconic character, Mame Dennis on stage and film. Mame Dennis is based on author Patrick Dennis’ real life aunt who loved life so much she lived to be over 100 years old. When I read the post about Mame, I remembered that one of my favorite movies is the non-musical version, Auntie Mame that came first. Rosalind Russell is mesmerizing in the role. Mame is so full of joy. She’s open-hearted and free-spirited. Nothing is off limits to experience and learn from. And her enthusiasm rubs off on almost everyone she knows, including her young nephew who becomes her ward when his father dies.

The quote above, from which I take the title of this post, is from a line she says in the plays and movies. “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Since it feels like we’ve been starved of so many positive things over the last few years, I needed to watch this movie again. It feels to me like we’ve been in the desert on our knees looking for water to nourish our parched bodies. Somehow, in just the last few weeks we’ve made it to the watering hole and joy is coming back to us in the form of VP Kamala Harris and her VP pick, Governor Tim Walz. An old idea that humans can live in joy is coming back and I for one am very grateful.

When I’m writing I usually prefer quiet. But for some reason today I wanted to play Aaron Copland, the iconic American composer. He was born in 1900 and died in 1990, so he was still alive when Barry and I chose music from his The Tender Land opera for our wedding. The first piece I listened to today was his very famous, Fanfare for the Common Man. It was one of my father’s favorites and I weep every time I hear it. It’s so appropriate for today even though Copland wrote it in 1942. The sweeping fanfare is for common people everywhere. It rises like a wave of ecstasy as if the common people are the ones who should be honored rather than the rulers. If you’ve never heard it, I highly recommend listening to it. If your heart doesn’t soar, I will be very much surprised.

The common people are rising up. We want hope and joy. We want to experience the banquet of life. We don’t want to be confined to a small life where we’re fighting for every scrap of food, water, or even toilet paper. Remember those days. It feels like those days are over.

The common people aren’t just rising up here in the U.S. either. There are lots of places around the globe where people aren’t going to allow their leaders to oppress them any longer. I don’t watch the news much, but I saw snippets of the protests in Venezuela over the dictator there declaring himself the winner of the election, when in fact, he wasn’t the winner at all. And the dictator of Bengladesh was just ousted as well. Hope and joy seem to be the order of the day! 

If you’re looking for some feel good entertainment, I suggest you watch, Auntie Mame, or even, the musical version Mame, though I prefer the non-musical version. It’s the story of one woman’s crusade to fight closed-mindedness, bigotry, and hate, even though it’s on a small scale. Every little bit helps. Love is contagious.

Auntie Mame is available on Tubi. Yes, there are commercials, but you will get so wrapped up in the story, you won’t notice. Or if you’re lucky, you might be able to check it out of your local library. Let’s spread love, hope, and joy through great stories! I hope you’ll share some of your favorites with the rest of us.

A side note: I just got word that the ebook version of The Space Between Time is now available on Hoopla. So if your local library is connected with that service you can now read my book for free. If you do, please leave a review, good or bad, on Goodreads, or some service like it. Goodreads is now connected to Amazon, so your review will go there too. The sequel, Time’s Echo is a story of the Suffrage Movement that finally got women the vote, paralleled with the Women’s Movement of today. I’m in the midst of revisions and hope to get the manuscript to my writer friend Lisa soon for her comments.

Thanks to my new followers and to those of you who like and comment on my posts. I appreciate your support.

Blessings,

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden

The Space Between Time

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version and sequel are published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.

Rita Gau’s review: Recently, I finished reading a book titled, The Space Between Time, by my friend, Lucinda Sage-Midgorden. It was the best book I’ve read in a long time. It kept me captivated, which I have not experienced from any other book for the past couple of years. I loved all the little gems of meaningful and what I call spiritual statements throughout the book. You know, those words that make you pause and think, and sometimes have an “aha” from or a deeper awareness about something. And it was entertaining and informational about some of the history in the 1800’s and yet, contemporary. It also reminded me of the importance of “living in community” and how important it is to help one another and be engaged in your community. Thank you Lucinda for a wonderful, entertaining and captivating book!

Story-Power on Patreon and Apple Subscriptions

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast, Patreon Community, and Apple subscription so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. They have recently instituted a free tier so you can try it out before you buy. Apple subscription is $3 a month, again with content not found on the Story-Power podcast. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Or, you can add the subscription on Apple podcast where Story-Power is published. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.

PodMatch for Podcasters

If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. I call them a dating service for podcasters. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.