The Los Angeles Times’ Hector Tobar Writes About a Poet Finding “Artistic Fodder,” If Not a “Rebirth” in Unemployment

Perhaps as the world begins a new year, people must start to live more on love and less on materials things. Almost all the problems of modern society . . . are caused principally by greed in the pursuit of obtaining money and more money that can buy influence and the resulting power and perks . . . – Bobby Reyes

T his writer said also in his A New Year’s Message: The World, Especially Filipinos, Must Start to Live More on Love and Less on Materials Things that “As the New Year of 2011 dawns on us, perhaps we must hear Alan Jackson sing his hit tune, ‘Livin’ On Love’ (© 1997 Arista Records, Inc.)”.

Yes, Alan Jackson ends his song, “No, it doesn't take much when you get enough livin' on love.”

Last Friday, Jan. 7, 2010, Hector Tobar wrote in his column in the Los Angeles Times about the saga of Marisela Norte, “an itinerant Angeleno poet and laid-off museum employee whose story was proof that even for some of the jobless, not everything about the hard times was bad.”

To read more of Mr. Tobar’s feature story on Ms. Marisela, please click on this link,

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tobar-20110107,0,1227666.column

In this ongoing tragedy of an economic crisis, Marisela Norte may just become the “poster girl” of “‘livin’ more on love’ and less on material things.”

Mr. Tobar writes further in his popular column about Ms. Marisela: “Being jobless also has brought her in closer contact with her city. For an artist, that's priceless. She's written about witnessing lovers' quarrels on the street and her experiences at the East L.A. Public Library, where she's volunteering at the store, sharing her love of literature with whoever comes through the door.”

Perhaps as you read the poignant story of Marisela Norte in Mr. Tobar’s column, as found in the above-stated hyperlink, you may want to listen again to Alan Jackson’s song by simply clicking the play button:

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Let us now wish Ms. Norte and all the unemployed people, especially the out-of-work artists, the best of luck and the best of times, as we all “learn how to make do with less and live more on love.” # # #