Amy Lu's View

As my last post detailed, I recently did a cover of the 1985’s Tears for Fear classic “Head Over Heels.”

Revisiting this song has inspired me to revisit the experience of being “Head Over Heels” — not just in romantic love (which when I was 15 in 1985 pretty much meant dramatically wallowing in unrequited love) but head over heels by the delights and mysteries of life — both big and small.  

“Head Over Heels” is one of those phrases that is so common that it can lose meaning. But think about it…actually, it should probably be “heels over head”* because it’s trying to convey that sense of being completely discombobulated and disoriented by an overpowering emotion or experience. And it’s usually completely unexpected — the sensation invades your ordinary life. 

This experience of being completely untethered and in free fall can be pretty scary — and exhilarating. (The music of the song is definitely ambivalent–hence those dastardly A9 chords — to evoke a little dread). So while it makes sense that we might think being head over heels is (or should be) only for young people or those newly in love, I want to try and open myself up to it. 

Things that make me head over heels:

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• Playing music live again — in 3D — with others, and in front of others — especially getting to drum AND sing at the same time!
• Our church’s weekly storytime via Zoom — getting to know the kids and their families better, and (re)discovering the wonder and wisdom and diversity of children’s picture books 
• Seeing friends in 3D and yes, even hugs in the right circumstances
• Sitting at a bar (although that may not happen again for a while)
• Wildflowers — learning to notice them, especially when they appear in not-so-scenic places
• Our church’s coffeehouse via Zoom — performing and being part of the online audience
• The urban turkeys that terrorize our neighborhood — definitely an example of the jarring, unpleasant, okay, often downright scary Head Over Heels experience that can literally stop me in my tracks when I’m running and I encounter one or several. No, they’ve never been aggressive toward me but I don’t want to give them the opportunity. And seriously, should they be freely roaming in NE Minneapolis?
• And speaking of unexpected birds in the city…the sound of our neighbor chickens. The chickens aren’t irritating or obnoxious (apparently they are rooster-free), and often provide just a pleasant background babble but make me think “Where the hell am I?”
• Realizing it’s dark by 8:30 at night (damn)
• An amazing audiobook that transports me to another world (currently, “The Archive of the Forgotten”) 
• Randomly hearing the perfect, profound, deep, life-altering song on the radio (thank you, the Current!) in this case, “You’ll be bright” by Cloud Cult…maybe a coffeehouse song I could whip up for coffeehouse sometime. (Not exactly a new song — it was released in 2010 — but at least from this century!)
• Realizing there is something that I still don’t know or understand about Chad after almost 32 years (or maybe I’ve had enough time to learn and forget) and to grasp that another person will always be a mystery.
• Appreciating that there is so much I DO know and understand about Chad and that he knows about me (even if it’s our neuroses) and that we could understand even more if we looked at each other without our preconceived notions.
• The unrelenting cuteness of StanLee B. — and how does he frequently look so sad/disappointed/judgmental and letdown?

*according to dictionary.com it WAS “heels over head”