Op-ed: A gift from the King

By Madeline Bodin
©2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC

A long time ago — you’ll see just how long in a minute — one of my coworkers at the technology magazine was cranky about our job. I was cranky, too, but he was crankier. I asked him what he wanted. “I want to save the world,” he said.

I was skeptical. This guy was an incredibly talented writer and a showboat. “Mother Teresa is always looking for volunteers,” I said sarcastically. This was so long ago that Mother Teresa was still alive and typically called a living saint.

“No,” he said, sincerely. “I want to save the world the way Elvis saved the world.”

I was baffled. This was not a high point of Elvis Presley’s reputation. The King had been dead for more than a decade. To me, Elvis had always been divorced, he had always done two shows a day in Vegas, he had always worn a rhinestone-studded jumpsuit  and he had nearly always been a man whose death had something to do with taking too many drugs.

For years I remembered that sentence only as evidence of my coworker’s ego. But as Elvis’s reputation was rehabilitated, I saw it – how Elvis had saved the world. He made people happy through his music. There was more, opening minds and hearts, but the music was enough. The rehab wouldn’t last long. There was profiting from cultural appropriation and abusive relationships to reckon with, but that, for me, came later. Once I understood how Elvis had saved the world, it didn’t take me years to figure out the rest.

My coworker had been right. Not only was saving the world the way Elvis saved the world acceptable, it was the best way possible to do it.

More than a decade later, I was part of an online writers group when a young combat veteran of the war in Iraq joined it. He was another extremely talented writer and he had quickly made a name for himself writing about travel, food and spirits, especially whiskey.

He wanted to serve and support veterans. But did this humble writer give up on writing about whiskey to do that? No. Over the years, he has raised money for veterans organizations through events he is uniquely qualified to organize. He popularized the idea of using mindfulness and meditation to fully savor the complex flavors in a sip of whiskey. It’s an idea that has opened the door to the benefits of mindfulness for veterans and others who might not have gotten there through another route.

Here’s where I remind you to drink responsibly, which may mean not at all. You can mindfully taste something else. You can learn more about whiskey, mindfulness and this veteran in his latest book. 

More recently, a woman who grew up around here has combined her love of sports and of making videos in a job creating marketing videos for a WNBA team. You may think there is nothing more frivolous than selling tickets to a basketball game, especially a women’s basketball game, but I think she’s saving the world the way Elvis saved the world. Yes, her videos promote this team, but because of what the WNBA is, through music, images and stories, she’s also promoting women’s rights, LGBQT+ rights, workers’ rights, and anti-racism.

The world has always needed saving. Just ask Mother Teresa. If things seem worse right now, I believe it’s because of changes close to home. Climate change, a pandemic that killed over a million people in this country, higher prices, the ending of our constitutional rights. There is so much to worry about that I’m not sure I could pick 10 things to list without missing something worse.

I have found that doing something helps. If you haven’t tried that, please do. Doing too much can lead to burnout. That kind of burnout can be cured by taking a break. But doing things that seem right but are wrong for you can cause burnout too.

When that happens, please turn to Elvis. You can save the world by singing a song. You can save the world by knitting a hat. Look what happened at the Women’s March.  You can save the world by sipping whiskey or making a video.

I’ve never been good at this myself. After all, it did take me years to realize that Elvis could save the world at all. But I believe it works.

I think about what Evan Parks says at nearly every protest that he DJs on the Chester Green, “If you are dancing, you are winning.”

It’s the joy that does the work. It’s the joy that overcomes greed and hatred. I believe we can save the world that way.

Madeline Bodin is a writer who lives in Andover.