The Broadway Play, Rent, based on the 1896 Opera La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, which made its first appearance on stage in 1994, told/tells the story of a group of “starving” artists living in Lower Manhattan’s East Village, trying to survive in the shadows of the HIV/AIDS epidemic/pandemic which became more prevalent in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Rent, the Play, also became popular on the big screen, and starred many of the same stage performers who brought it to the big screen in 2005. Included in that cast were Idina Menzel, Jesse L. Martin, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, and Taye Diggs. The story on stage and on the big screen included wonderful, heartfelt music with lyrics parts included in the title of this narrative and are also part of the song, Seasons of Love.

The song itself has its singers pondering to find a way to measure the value of a year. They would arrive at the conclusion that probably the best way would be to live showing love, or being in love. The next problem, if it is a problem, is how do they do that?

One of the ways they showed it was by accepting those in their circle of friends, which included many who lived their lives without worrying about political affiliations, religious preferences, without racial bias, without considering gender identity and/or sexual preference. They could show it without trying to figure out what “group” a person belongs to, just because they support certain political, economic, or religious ideals some have, or don’t have. They could do it by not being judgmental about what kind of music others like, or who are their favorite sports teams, or any creeds they follow, or what shape they are, or what their preferences in styles of furniture or clothes are, or what kind of car they drive. I interpreted how those characters, living in Lower Manhattan, as they tried to face each day, and the people they met, and with whom they dealt, with acceptance, tolerance, and respect for each other’s differences, beliefs, and ideals, even if they may have had some differences in opinion for some of ways of each other’s lifestyle. They brought truth and validity to Elizabeth Beatrice Hall’s (under the pseudonym S. G, Tallentyre) words in her 1906 book, “The Friends of Voltaire,” which often reads, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it.” (According to Academus UK, Hall actually wrote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it.”

Her use of quotation marks confused readers into thinking this was Voltaire’s own expression of his philosophy from the 18th century.)

We live in a world where we are entitled to agree, and/or disagree, with each other. If that’s true (and I think it is), it should be a respectful and peaceful disagreement. (Someone tell that to the people in most political scenarios, today.) We live in a world where people’s choice should determine how they want to live, and they should be respected, as long as it makes them happy, they aren’t hurting anyone, they live within the laws, and they are respectful of those who disagree with their lifestyle, or beliefs. That should be a two-way street, as it should apply to all people of all different races, creeds, colors, religious beliefs, sexual preferences, sports teams, political affiliation, favorite restaurants, TV shows, and any other differences that have been introduced into our society and our lives. We are people! We need to lose the adjectives we place before the word people in conversation and expression. Throw them in the garbage, the sewer, down the toilets, and get rid of them for good. We are people, made of flesh and blood having the same number of bones (unless not by a physical anomaly), or as a result of an accident.

Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride collaborated on a song that I refer to every April 23rd, called Trip Around the Sun, and in one verse, there were lyrics that sang, “No you never see it (the end of time since your last birthday) comin’, always wind up wonderin’ where it went, only time will tell if it was time well spent.” Growing up we were taught by our parents and teachers to make the best of every minute we have. If we look at the 525,600 minutes passed each year, we need to look at how many of those minutes we make the best of, and how many we wasted on disagreement, hate, or for whatever other reason someone may think is valid. Then, multiply those in each category by all the years we’ve been walking this earth, and decide if the number of minutes, hours, days, week, months, and years, add up to be a lifetime well spent, or time misspent. I often told my children, students, and athletes, that wasted time is stolen time, lost time, and time that you can never get back, and the only one responsible for stealing it, losing it, and virtually throwing it away, is the person whose image we see in the mirror each time we look at it.

Life is full of valuable lessons, some of them we can use to build on, and help us make things better, and some we can learn from, make changes, and become better people ourselves, and maybe then pass along to others to help them in their lives.

525,600 minutes in a year. Every one of them is precious. Every one of them is valuable. Every one of them is special, and too precious, and too valuable, to be wasted on pettiness, jealousy, prejudice, racism, intolerance, judgementalism, and hatred. As we begin this new set of 525,600 minutes for the year 2026, maybe we can learn from those minutes lost, or wasted, in times passed by, or ones past spent on hurting others, and learn to, in this planet’s next trip around the sun, use each precious minute to its fullest, in the very best way possible, for the benefit of all of those around us, and us too.