Echo Chambers + Echocardiograms

And The (Heart) Beat Goes On

Yesterday began like so many recent mornings: scrolling through a newsfeed that feels less like information and more like a firing squad.

Breaking news. Bad news. Worse news. Outrage. Counter-outrage. Rinse and refresh.

The endless churn of hot and cold takes echo off one another until it’s hard to tell where the noise ends and I begin. The funk and the struggle are real, y’all.

It’s so easy to get trapped in these echo chambers. So easy to mistake all the noise for reality, the scrolling for connection.

My heart has felt heavy for months now, not just metaphorically but physically. The constant hum of the headlines settles into my chest, tightens it, makes every beat I make and breath I take feel a little more labored.

Today, I’m stepping out of the echo chambers for a different kind of echo: my first echocardiogram, courtesy of my cardiologist’s orders.

I’ll admit I’m nervous. “Ultrasound of the heart” sounds both clinical and intimate. Having someone watch your heart at work—its rhythm, its valves, its flaws—in real time is about as nerve-wracking and vulnerable as it gets.

I don’t know exactly what to expect, but I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

As I get ready to head to the doctor’s office, I’m reminding myself: even when the world feels unrelenting, even when the noise grows deafening, it’s worth pausing to listen—not to the feeds, not to the talking heads, but to my own pulse.

And, thankfully, the (heart) beat goes on.

Keep calm and heart on!
Clint 🌈✌️

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FYC = FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

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• I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up ( Armistead Maupin + Christopher Turner)

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ON THIS DAY = SEPTEMBER 19

BIRTHDAYS

• 1869 = Ben Turpin = American comedian and actor

• 1888 = Porter Hall = American actor

• 1911 = William Golding = British writer and Nobel Prize laureate

• 1913 = Frances Farmer = American actor

• 1915 = Germán Valdés = Mexican actor, singer, and producer

• 1921 = Billy Ward = American singer-songwriter

• 1926 = James Lipton = American actor, producer, and screenwriter

• 1927 = William Hickey = American actor

• 1928 = Adam West = American actor and businessman

• 1930 = Bettye Lane = American photographer and journalist

• 1934 = Brian Epstein = English music manager (The Beatles) 🌈

• 1940 = Paul Williams = American singer-songwriter and actor

• 1941 = Cass Elliot = American singer

• 1942 = Freda Payne = American singer and actor

• 1948 = Jeremy Irons = English actor

• 1948 = Soni Wolf = American activist (Dykes on Bikes co-founder) 🌈

• 1949 = Twiggy = English model, actor, and singer

• 1950 = Joan Lunden = American tv journalist, anchor, and author

• 1952 = Nile Rodgers = American guitarist, songwriter, and producer

• 1958 = Lita Ford = English-American singer-songwriter

• 1962 = Cheri Oteri = American actor, comedian, and screenwriter

• 1964 = Trisha Yearwood = American singer-songwriter and actor

• 1967 = Riyad Vinci Wadia = Indian independent filmmaker 🌈

• 1969 = Michael Symon = American chef and author

• 1973 = David Zepeda = Mexican actor, model, and singer

• 1974 = Jimmy Fallon = American comedian and talk show host

• 1976 = Alison Sweeney = American actor and tv host

• 1980 = Sara Quin = Canadian singer-songwriter (Tegan and Sara) 🌈

• 1980 = Tegan Quin = Canadian singer-songwriter (Tegan and Sara) 🌈

EVENTS

• 1796 = George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public.

• 1893 = New Zealand becomes the first country to introduce universal suffrage following the women's suffrage movement led by Kate Sheppard.

• 1951 = A Streetcare Named Desire is released in theaters.

• 1970 = The Mary Tyler Moore Show premieres on CBS.

• 1982 = Scott Fahlman posts the first documented emoticons :-) and :-( on the Carnegie Mellon University bulletin board system.

• 1986 = US Federal health officials announce the first antiretroviral medication (AZT) to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS will be available to patients.

• 1989 = Doogie Howser, M.D. premieres on ABC.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• Constitution Week (September 17-23)

• National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15)

• National POW/MIA Recognition Day

• Talk Like a Pirate Day

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PORTRAITS + QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams.”
Jeremy Irons