25. LUCKY STAR

January 6, 2025

Not the lucky star you expected! I wouldn’t be bringing it up if I didn’t pass by it all the time. There are two “Starman” (aka Super Star) stickers in Brooklyn, and honestly, I have no idea why they’re there. (If you do, please tell me!) But they say LUCK to me for a couple of reasons.

One: The Super Mario character first came to mind when I practiced living life as though there were no obstacles. I was so confident that it exemplified the feeling of invincibility that I wrote about it on March 29, 2021. The truth is, I don’t feel that way all the time, which is why that moment stood out to me.

Two: Madonna’s “Lucky Star” was the first music video I ever saw on MTV. So, naturally, these lyrics are etched into my brain: “You must be my lucky star / ‘Cause you shine on me / Wherever you are.” It’s no secret that Madonna believes in luck—and in something greater. When she was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she spoke about writing her first song in an abandoned synagogue. She described feeling as though she was possessed by some magic because it didn’t seem like her. How everything happened exactly as it was supposed to happen. How the universe conspired to help and guide her to that very moment. She took us there in “Like a Prayer,” and I’ve felt that power in the midnight-hour to join the choir.  

To show what happens when we believe in signs, I took a video of day four of 2025. “Lucky Star” played on the radio as the car pulled up to my destination: Starr Street.