Passionate

I’m a massive fan of “Hamilton”. When it came to Disney + in 2020, I watched it for the first time just to see what the fuss was all about. It only took that one time. Actually, I think it was after the second viewing, that I immediately downloaded the soundtrack and became obsessed. It’s an amazing show, and quite honestly, Lin-Manuel Miranda deserved every award he won for writing it. The Pulitzer, all the Tony’s, everything.

This year is the 10-year anniversary of the show and of course there have been endless videos to commemorate the anniversary. I follow Lin-Manuel Miranda, of course, but I also follow the official “Hamilton” page on social media. I don’t know how “official” it is, but they’ve been posting a lot of videos this year. One that I saw yesterday really struck me.

Fans of the show know that Lin-Manuel Miranda was inspired to write the musical after he read the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.

The video I saw showed just how moved he was by the book. He is standing outside the theater on opening night before the show started. He’s talking to a group of fans that have gathered there. I think they were waiting to see if they had gotten tickets in the lottery. He goes on to read the first five paragraphs of the book. His voice cracks several times as he’s reading. It’s obvious how deeply affected he still is by the story.

It almost makes me want to buy the book so I can read it and try to see what he saw in the story of one of our founding fathers. Is the story really that good? Or is this a testament to the character of Lin-Manuel? His sensitivity? His deep love for the United States? He, himself, is from Puerto Rico. His connection to an immigrant going on to greatness when he is also an immigrant?

Reflecting on this made me think of the book The Wednesday Wars which I have written about before in my post Gary Schmidt Y’all!. In that young adult book, the main character has a sister who is deeply invested in what is happening with the Vietnam War. How the government is handling it, the soliders fighting in it, the way it is affecting their hometown. She is often at odds with her father about it because he sees her as nothing more than a flower-child/hippie that he has no patience for. Her little brother, the main character of the book, doesn’t understand her and why she gets so emotional about current events. She, very passionately, tries to get him to see things her way.

When I would teach that book to my 7th grade class each year, at a certain point, I would always ask them to write a reflection on the question, “What have you felt as passionately about as Holling’s sister?” (We don’t find out her name until close to the end of the book).

The truth is, I don’t know how to answer my own question. I can’t think of anything outside of my own personal experience that has moved me to tears because of how deeply I was moved by it. Sure, I cry at movies. I have even cried listening to certain songs at certain times. But I can’t honestly think of something that has not only touched me, but pushed me to action. Not like Lin-Manuel Miranda writing an award-winning musical that has developed a following as big as it has. Not like Gary Schmidt’s character who runs away to “find herself” because she can’t stand being so misunderstood by her own family for what she thinks and feels.

I do feel quite strongly about mental health and hopefully the book I’m writing will be my way of advocating for those who don’t have access to care, or who might be scared to seek help. But am I as passionate about it as those I described? Do I need to be? Does it matter if I am or not?

What about you? I’ll ask the same question I asked my 7th graders…what have you ever felt so deeply passionate about in your life? Did it prompt you to some action related to it?