Sometimes you have to look to unconventional sources to find what should be conventional wisdom.

For those of you who haven’t seen the classic 1989 film “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” after going back in time to gather up significant historical figures including Socrates (pronounced ‘So-Crates’ by Bill and Ted), Joan of Arc (‘Miss of Arc’), Beethoven (pronounced ‘Beeth-Oven’), and Abraham Lincoln to help them make a good grade for a presentation in their high school history class, Bill and Ted (two simpleton California surfer dudes whose goal in life is to become rock guitar gods even though they don’t know how to play guitar) sum up the lessons learned along the way with the following statement:

“Be excellent to each other…and party on, dudes.”

Now on the surface, that might sound kind of juvenile, if not silly. But once you start digging a little deeper, I think it might need to become the new official catchphrase for our nation – at least for those of us who still have half of a functional brain, heart, and soul.

So, what exactly does it mean?

The stars of the film, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, were recently asked to give their interpretation.

“I think that the sentiment of it is really just be the best person, the best human being you can be, and if you do that, then you can party on and live life to the fullest, but you’re gonna be safe,” Reeves said. “You’re going to be supported, you’re going to get the gift of giving, you’re going to get the gift of receiving, you’re going to get to the gift of sharing…we’re all just some humans on a rock in space, and so it’s kinda nice to kind of promote that idea of ‘give a little, get a lot’, kind of bring it in for a group hug.”

“I’ve always interpreted those two things joined together the way they are as Bill and Ted are really about friendship, which means it’s about community, which means it’s about sort of the interconnectedness of people and being compassionate about that in interconnectedness,” Winter added. “And I think for me Bill and Ted has always been about you being compassionate to your fellow man, but also engaging with life. That’s what the ‘party on’ part has always meant to me, just like…you know, you could be compassionate and still live in isolation. Bill and Ted are always like going out on these adventures with optimism and hope and positivity…and so I think it’s like, you know, “be kind to your fellow man but engage with the world, like, be out in the world. That’s a really cool message.”

I concur 100%.

I am sick and tired of the ugliness we’ve grown far too accustomed to showing to each other, especially here of late, and most of it in the name of stupid politics. You would think that most of us would’ve figured out that our political pendulum regularly swings back and forth to the left or the right to help correct our overall path toward the general middle and thus grasp that that middle is where we’re supposed to be moving forward as our baseline of operation, but no.

We’ve hit a place where our mindset is simple: “If you’re not on my side then you’re not only wrong, you’re also an enemy.”

I’ve heard first-hand accounts of families disinviting family members from things like birthday parties, Thanksgiving, and Christmas celebrations just because whoever was hosting the gatherings didn’t agree with the political views of the people in question. Some of those things have been outright canceled because of it. I read an account a few weeks ago where almost half of the members of a family refused to attend the funeral of a grandfather because of where he stood politically.

Really? Seriously? 

So we’ve reached a point where our relationships – up to and including familial – with other human beings are being incinerated because of where our (or their) support aligns politically, and lost the ability to have enough control over ourselves to just keep politics out of the discussion if not doing so is going to create so much angst, agony, and anger?

Really? Seriously?

I hate breaking the news to those from both sides aligning themselves to burn real relationships in their lives on the bitter, venom-fueled funeral pyres burning in their souls, but neither side is spotless regarding the current state of our nation. Not even close. There has been plenty of ineptitude and mismanagement of our government from all parties involved over the years, and if you can’t see that then you are simply choosing to close your eyes and stick your head in the sand.

There used to be an edict Americans prided themselves on using regarding their daily walk through life in this nation. Of course, it came from an old book that nobody pays any attention to anymore, as well as being shared in almost every society dating back to the Egyptians.

It reads something like “do unto others as you would have done to you.” In other words, treat other people the way you would have them treat you. But since that’s old and outdated, let’s just put it this way:

Just be excellent to each other – and party on, dudes.