Thank you, President Spar. Members of the board of trustees, esteemed members of the faculty, proud parents, squirming siblings, devoted friends: congratulations to all of you. But especially, congratulations to the magnificent Barnard Class of 2011.

Looking at you all here fills me with great joy, in part because my college roommate, a member of your faculty, Caroline Weber, is here. Carrie, it means so much to me to be at your school, and in part because I work in Silicon Valley, let’s just say I’m not usually in a room with this many women. For the wonderful men who are here today, if you feel a little uncomfortable, we’re really glad you’re here, and no line for the men’s room. It’s worth it.

I graduated from college exactly 20 years ago. And as I am reminded every single day where I work, that makes me really old. Mark Zuckerberg, our founder and my boss, said to me the other day, “Sheryl, when do midlife crises happen? When you’re 30?” Not a good day at the office. But I am old enough to know that most of our lives are filled with days we do not remember. Today is not one of them. You may not remember one word I say. You may not even remember who your graduation speaker is, although for the record, Sheryl with an S. You won’t remember that it was raining and we had to move inside. But you will remember what matters, which is how you feel as you sit here, as you walk across the stage, as you start the next phase of your life.

Today is a day of celebration, a day to celebrate all the hard work that got you to this place where you can sit, kind of sweltering in that gown. Today is a day of thanks, a day to thank all the people that helped you get here, the people who nurtured you and taught you, who held your hand, who dried your tears. Today is a day of reflection. Excuse me, a little laryngitis.

As you leave Barnard today, you leave not just with an education, but you take your place amongst the fortunate. Some of you came here from families where education was expected and emphasized. Others of you had to overcome far more obstacles to get here, and today you become the very first member of your family to graduate from college. What an amazing accomplishment. But no matter where you started, as of today you are all privileged. You are privileged in the most important sense of the word, which is that you have almost boundless opportunity in front of you. So, the question is, what are you going to do with it? What will you do with this education you worked so hard to achieve? What in the world needs to change, and what part do you plan on playing in changing it?

Pulitzer Prize winners Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof visited this campus last year and they spoke about their critically important book, Half the Sky.
In that book, they assert that the fundamental moral challenge of the 19th century was slavery; of the 20th century, it was totalitarianism; and for our century, it is oppression of girls and women around the world. Their book is a call to arms, to give women all over the world, women who are exactly like us except for the circumstances into which they were born, basic human rights.
Compared to these women, we are lucky. In America, as in the entire developed world, we are equals under the law. But the promise of equality is not equality. As we sit here looking at this magnificent blue-robed class, we have to admit something that’s sad but true: men run the world. Of 190 heads of state, nine are women. Of all the parliaments around the world, 13% of those seats are held by women. Corporate America top jobs, 15% are women; numbers which have not moved at all in the past nine years. Nine years. Of full professors around the United States, only 24% are women.

I recognize that this is a vast improvement from generations in the past. When my mother took her turn to sit in a gown at her graduation, she thought she only had two career options: nursing and teaching. She raised me and my sister to believe that we could do anything, and we believed her. But what is so sad—it doesn’t just make me feel old, it makes me truly sad—is that it’s very clear that my generation is not going to change this problem. Women became 50% of the college graduates in this country in 1981, 30 years ago. Thirty years is plenty of time for those graduates to have gotten to the top of their industries, but we are nowhere close to 50% of the jobs at the top. That means that when the big decisions are made, the decisions that affect all of our worlds, we do not have an equal voice at that table.

So today, we turn to you. You are the promise for a more equal world. You are our hope. I truly believe that only when we get real equality in our governments, in our businesses, in our companies and our universities, will we start to solve this generation’s central moral problem, which is gender equality. We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored.

So my hope for all of you here, for every single one of you, is that you’re going to walk across the stage and get your diploma. You’re going to go out tonight or maybe all summer and celebrate. You deserve it. And then you’re going to lean way into your career. You’re going to find something you love doing, and you’re going to do it with gusto. You’re going to pick your field and you’re going to ride it all the way to the top.

So, what advice can I give you to help you achieve this goal? The first thing is I encourage you to think big. Studies show very clearly that in our country, in the college-educated part of the population, men are more ambitious than women. They’re more ambitious the day they graduate from college; they remain more ambitious every step along their career path. We will never close the achievement gap until we close the ambition gap. But if all young women start to lean in, we can close the ambition gap right here, right now, if every single one of you leans in. Leadership belongs to those who take it. Leadership starts with you.

The next step is you’re going to have to believe in yourself potentially more than you do today. Studies also show that compared to men, women underestimate their performance. If you ask men and women questions about completely objective criteria such as GPAs or sales goals, men get it wrong slightly high; women get it wrong slightly low. More importantly, if you ask men why they succeeded, men attribute that success to themselves; and women, they attribute it to other factors like working harder, help from others. Ask a woman why she did well on something, and she’ll say, “I got lucky. All of these great people helped me. I worked really hard.” Ask a man and he’ll say or think, “What a dumb question. I’m awesome.” So women need to take a page from men and own their own success.

That’s much easier to say than to do. I know this from my own experience. All along the way, I’ve had all of those moments, not just some of the time; I would say most of the time, where I haven’t felt that I owned my success. I got into college and thought about how much my parents helped me on my essays. I went to the Treasury Department because I was lucky to take the right professor’s class who took me to Treasury. Google, I boarded a rocket ship that took me up with everyone else.

Even to this day, I have those moments. I have those moments all the time, probably far more than you can imagine I would. I know I need to make the adjustments. I know I need to believe in myself and raise my hand, because I’m sitting next to some guy and he thinks he’s awesome. So, to all of you, if you remember nothing else today, remember this: You are awesome. I’m not suggesting you be boastful. No one likes that in men or women. But I am suggesting that believing in yourself is the first necessary step to coming even close to achieving your potential.

You should also know that there are external forces out there that are holding you back from really owning your success. Studies have shown—and yes, I kind of like studies—that success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women. This means that as men get more successful and powerful, both men and women like them better. As women get more powerful and successful, everyone, including women, likes them less.

I’ve experienced this firsthand. When I first joined Facebook, there was a well-read blog out in the Valley that devoted some incredibly serious pixels to trashing me. Anonymous sources called me a liar, two-faced, about to ruin Facebook forever. I cried some when I was alone, I lost a bunch of sleep. Then I told myself it didn’t matter. Then everyone else told me it didn’t matter, which just reminded me of one thing: they were reading it too. I fantasized about all kinds of rejoinders, but in the end, my best and only response was just to do my job and do it well. When Facebook’s performance improved, the trash talk went away.

Do I believe I was judged more harshly because of my double-Xs? Yes. Do I think this will happen to me again in my career? Sure. I told myself that next time I’m not going to let it bother me, I won’t cry. I’m not sure that’s true. But I know I’ll get through it. I know that the truth comes out in the end, and I know how to keep my head down and just keep working.

If you think big, if you own your own success, if you lead, it won’t just have external costs, but it may cause you some personal sacrifice. Men make far fewer compromises than women to balance professional success and personal fulfillment. That’s because the majority of housework and childcare still falls to women. If a heterosexual couple work full time, the man will do—the woman, sorry—the woman will do two times the amount of housework and three times the amount of childcare that her husband will do. From my mother’s generation to mine, we have made far more progress making the workforce even than we have making the home even, and the latter is hurting the former very dramatically. So it’s a bit counterintuitive, but the most important career decision you’re going to make is whether or not you have a life partner and who that partner is. If you pick someone who’s willing to share the burdens and the joys of your personal life, you’re going to go further. A world where men ran half our homes and women ran half our institutions would be just a much better world.

I have a six-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter. I want more choices for both of them. I want my son to have the choice to be a full partner not just at work, but at home; and I want my daughter to have a choice to do either. But if she chooses work, to be well-liked for what she accomplishes. We can’t wait for the term “work/life balance” to be something that’s not just discussed at women’s conferences.

Of course not everyone wants to jump into the workforce and rise to the top. Life is going to bring many twists and turns, and each of us, each of you, have to forge your own path. I have deep respect for my friends who make different choices than I do, who choose the really hard job of raising children full time, who choose to go part time, or who choose to pursue more nontraditional goals. These are choices that you may make some day, and these are fine choices.
But until that day, do everything you can to make sure that when that day comes, you even have a choice to make. Because what I have seen most clearly in my 20 years in the workforce is this: Women almost never make one decision to leave the workforce. It doesn’t happen that way. They make small little decisions along the way that eventually lead them there. Maybe it’s the last year of med school when they say, I’ll take a slightly less interesting specialty because I’m going to want more balance one day. Maybe it’s the fifth year in a law firm when they say, I’m not even sure I should go for partner, because I know I’m going to want kids eventually.
These women don’t even have relationships, and already they’re finding balance, balance for responsibilities they don’t yet have. And from that moment, they start quietly leaning back. The problem is, often they don’t even realize it. Everyone I know who has voluntarily left a child at home and come back to the workforce—and let’s face it, it’s not an option for most people. But for people in this audience, many of you are going to have this choice. Everyone who makes that choice will tell you the exact same thing: You’re only going to do it if your job is compelling.

If several years ago you stopped challenging yourself, you’re going to be bored. If you work for some guy who you used to sit next to, and really, he should be working for you, you’re going to feel undervalued, and you won’t come back. So, my heartfelt message to all of you is, and start thinking about this now, do not leave before you leave. Do not lean back; lean in. Put your foot on that gas pedal and keep it there until the day you have to make a decision, and then make a decision. That’s the only way, when that day comes, you’ll even have a decision to make.

What about the rat race in the first place? Is it worthwhile? Or are you just buying into someone else’s definition of success? Only you can decide that, and you’ll have to decide it over and over and over. But if you think it’s a rat race, before you drop out, take a deep breath. Maybe you picked the wrong job. Try again. And then try again. Try until you find something that stirs your passion, a job that matters to you and matters to others. It is the ultimate luxury to combine passion and contribution. It’s also a very clear path to happiness.

At Facebook we have a very broad mission. We don’t just want you to post all your pictures of tonight up there and use Facebook to keep in touch, even though we want that, so do a lot of that. We want to connect the whole world. We want to make the whole world more open and more transparent. The one thing I’ve learned working with great entrepreneurs—Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Google—that if you want to make a difference, you better think big and dream big, right from day one.

We try at Facebook to keep all of our employees thinking big all day. We have these posters in red we put around the walls. One says, “Fortune favors the bold.” Another says, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” That question echoes Barnard alum Anna Quindlen, who said that she majored in unafraid. Don’t let your fears overwhelm your desire. Let the barriers you face—and there will be barriers—be external, not internal. Fortune does favor the bold, and I promise that you will never know what you’re capable of unless you try.
You’re going to walk off this stage today and you’re going to start your adult life. Start out by aiming high. Like everyone here, I have great hopes for the members of this graduating class. I hope you find true meaning, contentment and passion in your life. I hope that you navigate the hard times and you come out with greater strength and resolve. I hope that whatever balance you seek, you find it with your eyes wide open. And I hope that you—yes, you—each and every one of you have the ambition to run the world, because this world needs you to run it. Women all around the world are counting on you. I’m counting on you.

I know that’s a big challenge and responsibility, a really daunting task, but you can do it. You can do it if you lean in. So go home tonight and ask yourselves, “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?” And then go do it. Congratulations, 2011.

I said a prayer 2 years ago for help creating a more diverse list of offerings here at Tsubo Massage.  When Darcy first approached me about what we do, I thought she was just making chit chat.  About a week later she said “We should talk” and that next conversation began a ball rolling that has gained more momentum than I ever hoped for.  Prayers answered.

Last Monday we had record Valentine sales.  So many of you were taking advantage of our Chocolate services and reduced pricing.  All of us here had the best time, making a Monday so un-Monday-esque.  I give Darcy lots of the credit.  She supported, informed, guided and pushed until these services were fantastic!
So today is Wednesday, and it is Darcy Day, she offers 30 minute massages for $35 and is including Chocolate Butter Cream foot massage as a part of the service. Come in and enjoy, she can’t wait to see you.

Our soothing Chocolate Butter Cream

I can’t get over how different the lives of my women friends are than those of my mother’s circle.  An author of my acquaintance suggests that we can’t use the excuses that our parents did – we can’t get away with the same logic as we don’t live in that world.  So true.  My mom can’t get over what my life is like.  She is so glad she is not living it, and frankly, I get sick thinking I might end up in hers. My mom and I are great friends but we know this about one another.

Last summer, my mom got her first massage at the age of 76.  I’ve been doing massage professionally for 20 years, but she always politely declined.  So, why did she decide this was a good time to start? Well, she was no longer obligated to anyone, no longer had to justify her expenses to anyone, and, primarily, had some aches and pains she was damned tired of.  I am glad (and relieved) to say that the massage worked.

In the spirit of all those women who work hard and can’t imagine spending a nickel – let alone a whole hour – on themselves, Darcy, Jen and I put our heads together and asked, “What special and unusual thing do we do here that people need to try?”  And, how can we make it better, longer, and more affordable?  We came up with the Chocolate Wrap/Scrub.

Let me introduce our carefully concocted chocolate infused service, The Chocolate Scrub/Wrap. For the person who deserves it, needs it, and wants to make that time unforgettable.  After examining what makes the most enjoyable hour, 90 minutes or 2 hours of treatment, we decided that an introduction to heat therapy was in order.  Lie down with a rich Lindt Chocolate and allow your body to sink into a heated table, the chocolate to melt in your mouth.  The soft Italian sheets and sheep skin padding will swiftly allow your mind-body to ease and soak up all that we have prepared.  The skilled hands at Tsubo Massage will apply our Chocolate Scrub to all your dry winter skin and wrap you with a thermal blanket for you to rest and absorb the creamy butter.   After the wrap, a shower awaits and a fresh set of bedding is prepared for your Chocolate Butter Moisturizing massage. Total time 60 minutes.
For a more thorough experience we add a warm foaming fask mask and scalp massage. Allow the wrap to deepen it’s therapeutic potential, while the foaming mask lifts dirt and removes fluid build-up in the face.  Look younger and feel more like yourself.  The scalp massage is the topper to this rejuvenation, as it stimulates and soothes the most stressed muscles in the body.  Scalp massage can profoundly center and clear your mind.   This is an additional 30 minutes making the total service 90 minutes.

For the deluxe gift, a whole body explosion of chocolate and relaxation.  We include all of the above, but the Thick Chocolate Butter Cream massage becomes a full body deep tissue massage, whole service is 2 full hours.

The cost is $89 for the Chocolate Scrub/Wrap.

Add the Foaming Face Mask & Scalp Massage an additional 30 minutes at $119

To extend the moisturizing Chocolate Butter Cream into a full body deep tissue massage (ultimate 2 hour service) $149.00

February is the month for romance and what could be more romantic than a total body chocolate experience?  For  a limited time only (For purchase in Feb 2011 only, offer available through April 30, 2011) Tsubo Massage offers three exceptional body treatments in one. Spend 90 minutes warmed, scrubbed, enriched and soothed with our Deep Dark Chocolate Body Approach.  Our heated table waits for you to warm and  relax, followed with by  Lindt Chocolate meditation and aromatherapy.  Expert therapists will exfoliate your winter skin with our luscious chocolate scrub, apply a deep enriching Chocolate cream foaming mask with scalp massage.  Refresh with a shower and finish it all off with deep therapeutic massage with Dark chocolate butter massage cream.

Okay?  What do you think?  Don’t hold back, this is Valentines Day so we mean business!  And thank you in advance for your suggestions.

M&M store, Good Stress or Bad Stress?

Yesterday, I was discussing stress with a client.  He said that he had no stress and I laughed out loud in disbelief – “If you have no stress, I am a grapefruit!”  The discussion turned to one of good stress vs. bad stress, and I tried repeatedly to explain that one’s body doesn’t have the ability to differentiate between the two. Stress happens, and whether you “like” the stress or not, it doesn’t alter the physical affects.   I cited my recent trip to NYC, a place both my client and I adore.  While buying some bagels at the awesome Tal Bagels on 90th and Broadway, I noticed at least five things that would have driven my husband bananas.  I, however, was in heaven.   I loved the two regulars who ordered small coffees with 3 Splendas and lots of milk (skim), the three college friends who, while ordering (demanding) six different bagel combinations (scooped with lowfat tofu cream cheese was the grossest) were dodging out for better coffee, texting and being kinda rude.  I loved the guy who wanted the Nova in the back, wrapped to go, with a pint of the chopped liver.  Did I mention is all happened in under five minutes?  The staff was at peace with all the particular demands.

But stressful?  Sure.  Did I love every minute? Absolutely!  Would it have made Eric want to start shooting?  Oh my dear, yes.  Good stress for me, bad for my boy.

There are other kinds of stress that we don’t always consider. I had forgotten how hard the cement is under your feet.  My dogs were barking by lunch time.  Lucky for me, I have a happy-to-rub-my-toes husband.  If you do not, clear your calendar this Friday, December 3rd at 5pm for my free foot massage class.  You have to call to reserve a spot because space is limited – 458-0321.

There is also the stress of longing and memory – longing to be in my NYC heyday and the memory of Molly before kids.  The loneliness of thinking those rich years are dying with me.  Loving something and trying not to let on that you are desperate for your children to like it too.  That is stressful.  I don’t know how those thoughts can be helped, but what sweet relief when they are eased.  Darlie, Zoe, and I were plowing through the overeager crowd between the M&M store and Toys ‘R’ Us, when Darlie stopped and said, “Everyone is one.”  Thinking I had missed something, I bent down to see her face and she went on, “Everyone is so different here that we all become the same…I mean, you could wear a turtle on your head and there isn’t a person here who could judge you.”  My baby is Buddha.

Of course, pain is also stress.  As are fatigue, problem solving, and bad thoughts.  It all adds up, and I think if you judge it, that adds up too.  Hamlet says, “For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”  Shakespeare hit it there.  How you think of stress is your choice, just don’t blame the stressor.

Prepare for the sweeping generalization. People who run businesses are good people. Granted not always, but here in Williamstown,  I know many owners who like my landlord, are perceived differently than I experience them.  Mikki Brown is a great example.  Mikki is a silent force behind so many events, ideas, and plans that ignite action here in Williamstown.  She has a fantastic store that has recently added a huge line of everyday womens fashions. Lower prices, more inventory, more risk and more work to market. Expanding is no small undertaking, and almost impossible while recovering from a health crisis  that would destroy me.  Mikki works hard, tries always to live her life with integrity, optimism, and fairness.  People know her as cheerful, carefree, but man she works like a dog to keep her vision alive and affordable.

Amy Bryan of The Cottage organizes events, raises children,  donates, volunteers, name it and she puts in effort.  She too is trying to show up for herself and her community.  Nancy Thomas of Mezze, is frankly Olympian in her efforts to create a new positive model for eating, shopping and use of town, community, world.  This weekend she is the force behind the Holiday Farmers Market. To have Nancy as a business friend, is to raise your own bar of excellence.

All these leaders have been employing people, paying bills, working overtime and forging ahead without a road map.  Getting up and feeling sick doesn’t get you the day off.  Vacations? Maybe.  Yes, I know, it is their own choice to invest, work, and hunker down in this way, but what is unseen is the next choice.  How will they do it?  How will they be a boss, leader, a member inside a community?  Here is where I have an ax to grind with our Bernie Madoff.

At some point, don’t you say what is my responsibility?  Sure, we all ask what was Bernie thinking?  Greed, momentum, pride can be answers.  He was heady with power.  I get it, there may be more excusable excuses, but lets start with that.  He is a naughty boy.  But what about his staff?   Is taking money all by himself?  I don’t think so.  His business was running awhile with this plan, he could not have run it alone, and as we are finding out, probably didn’t.  He was naughty and got people to be naughty too.

So now I ask what were the employees thinking?  And who are they?  What does The Bernie Madoff employee handbook look like?  “What you call criminal at work, we call teamwork!  Don’f forget your welcome packet includes a nice choice of denial baskets.  They are free and have our company logo on it! So while it is bad stuff, you are not alone. Welcome to Bernies world!”

I blame Bernie for not running  a respectable place, but I also blame the people who supported it.  Today I am going to call another meeting where I tell my employees to call me on all my criminal activities.  I hope it is a short meeting.  It may not be the way everyone runs a business, but then again not everyone gets to work with a team full of honest, sincere, massage therapists who would rather saw off their arms than cheat a client.

Tiny Fey was on PBS the other night.  She was being celebrated for having won the Mark Twain Prize for comedy.  Tiny Fey seems so young, she seems so normal and familiar.  I catch myself talking to her in my head, like I went to high school with her or something. “Hey Tina, love you as Sarah Palin, wanna get a grilled cheese at The Chefs Hat?”

Since I saw her acceptance speech I can not stop thinking about what is it about her that is so refreshing, uplifting and just good for the soul.  Okay, she is really good at being funny, but so were the other people speaking that night and they didn’t give off that vibe.   Why isn’t she stressed or frantic?  She has so much on her plate it is hard to imagine how she delegates, writes, mothers and acts all at once.  Yet here she was hitting it out of the park, like it was nothing, just another day.   Not only was she funny, she was easy, beautiful, smart, poised and a bit glamorous.  I am going to include the Tiny Fey link because you should see it.  I wanted to write about it because it is great in so many different ways.  Not just the comedy ( it helps,sure) but the mastery.

What is more lovely than seeing someone do the thing they are put on the earth to do?  Feels good to watch a baby sleep,  see the guy flirting with the checkout gal while packing  your bags at the grocery store, anything at Olympics. They are good at that stuff!  Watching Tina Fey stand up in front of hundreds and be funny, just feels so good.  It has to matter somehow so I am going to pay attention today.

I am going to do something I am good at in a few minutes. Today I am going to relax and enjoy it.  I am not going to think about the laundry or which bill to pay during lunch.  I am going to do it old school, I am going to keep it up as long as I can and know that is how my day gets great.

Mostly my brain sounds like this, “Where’s m’phone? What’s next? Do I have my keys? When does the drug store close?”  My mind is creating lists, answering questions, roaming for snacks, and telling me I am fat all at the same time.  There is a lot to like about my brain, but the  truth is, I don’t think it is always working in my own best interest. As my mind races, my body tightens, the moment is lost.  Quick tell me, what is a girl to do?

The answer is not listed. I tried googling it, I looked in emails, internet, Bing! (I don’t know what Bing! is but I love the word and I think other people who I like know, so I want to too) cell phone, text messaging, facebook, in the faces of my whining kid, cute shoes on other people, my coffee routine, and of course, work. The answer, I think, is not there.

It has something to do with recognizing self care.  Taking time out to do something with friends, shop for better food choices, or buy pants that fit you now shouldn’t be considered ‘me time’ or self care, but it breaks down to that for me. I love my life, but it is different than what I expected.  I didn’t plan for my biggest stress to be Box Tops, and for down time to be the drive to work.  I grab at chances to text, google, email, but they do not serve the bigger picture.  They are a piece, but a big loud small piece.

I love all of the above, I love being in touch, up to date. I love writing something in 140 characters or less. I also love my kids but they don’t often have as good a subject line. I have noticed being “in touch” has a cost, and grown ups make choices and I have to cull the noise.  I have to carve out self care, whether I think it is selfish or less important.  Listen for the signal through the noise.  I have to remember the bigger picture, the bigger truth, the moment.  The moment to look at your crazy 8 year old who is rapping about turtles.  The moment your friend is trying not to cry in the parking lot, the moment before I grab cheese balls instead of luscious in season honey crisp apples.  I have to find a pair of jeans that fit me.  Okay, now that I have added to the noise, I am going to but my butt on a cushion and listen.

First of all, this concert at Mass MoCA was an amazing achievement.  On so many levels the town of North Adams and Mass MoCA showed up in full force and enthusiasm.  North Adams, MA has had a very turbulent couple decades and has been evolving and growing with no shortage of pains.  Last year after 16 terms, the town elected a new mayor, and I think that shift may have been a contributor to this shift in presence for the past 3 days.  In my experience, the town struggled to accept and embrace the expanse of its new identity.  A steady stream of artists, lofts, and stores have continued to pop up since Mass MoCA has been around.  A very different landscape than mill town of old.

Having grown up in a small midwestern factory town, I wondered where the familiar work ethic was, the town pride and the quiet steel of humans working for community and family.  Moving to New York City at 23 was a sign that I was bigger and better than those people, right?  When I moved I thought if I stayed in that factory town one more minute I would die of pure suffocation!  Back then, I wanted away from family and community, I wanted to be where people didn’t know my name, where I could die my hair red to match my boots and not a single soul would send a note home to my mother.

So many times I have thought that upbringing was just in the midwest, just my small town, or just being on the inside.  Last weekend proved me wrong. All along North Adams has been reclaiming itself.  All along North Adams has been struggling to shake up the new folks, the new fangled; and shout, we know how to kick butt, just give us a minute!  Their time has come, and not just because of Mass MoCA, or this great beautiful band, but because it had to and the timing clicked.
I was humbled. I realized I had decided a lot of things that North Adams wasn’t.  I had made up my mind that the people, as a group, were too marginalized, too misunderstood to out do their past.  I had decided that the New York Producers would run all over this town,  encouraging even more resentment.  I thought it was a one-off.  Boy was I wrong.
The producers were awed.  The visitors blissed-out, the band jolly and elated, the crew back stage said “I don’t usually have fun at these things!” and “there were more  drugs at Bonnaroo.”  I over heard a lot from my little massage table, tucked in the deep dark corner of the old factory.  I heard my heart say “lucky Molly, you get to live here.” I also heard the ching of cash registers which in the long run is what this town needs.  Bravo N.A, Bravo.