May 28, 2020
Life is feeling a bit more 'normal' these days. People are out and about. The park rings with voices and intermittent laughter. Restaurants have customers once again. Neighbors are getting together. This in itself is a revelation. Solitude by choice is uplifting. Solitude by force is eerie. Confinement debilitating. The psychological scars run deep.
And yet, while a thick fog lifts from over the earth, what remains does not resemble that which is familiar. A blanket of grief lingers…and perhaps will for some time. Uncertainty joins with a loss of dreams and plans. For our youth, cancelled rites of passage, lost opportunities, and a lack of closure as one school year bleeds seamlessly into the next leaves a feeling of being robbed. Business owners teeter on the edge, fearful if they will make it or not. Furloughs and layoffs abound. Forced vacations are not vacations...I mean, who can relax under these circumstances? This needs to be acknowledged.
Fear of the unknown creates a nagging imbalance. It’s uncomfortable. Presently, the Titanic is sinking and nobody is sure there will be enough life boats (except, perhaps, for the first class passengers). Personally, I have watched a profession that I have loved for seven years slowly fades away as ancient healing-arts practices using human touch are considered a non-essential ‘risk’, while the pharmacy lines get longer and the drug companies rake in the bucks. It is a miserable irony that deeply saddens me.
To recognize that grief, to make it tangible, and turn it over and over, doesn’t make it less profound, but it gives way to carrying on. To recognize there is no right or wrong internal response to what has happened, because we are individuals that interpret this world through diverse eyes and varying experiences. It invites us to be patient with one another through this process…the waves of shock, denial, anger, despair. I feel the suffering. And I see it. A spiritual war is at hand. And for that, I have compassion for all, regardless of anyone’s views on this pandemic which has been handled with extraordinary measures.
And so, I have turned to a time of long ago and found solace. I have reached for my friends, Emerson and Thoreau on the book shelf, and remembered the sanctity of our Divine, and this spiritual presence that resides in all humans and nature itself. The power of the individual to be self-reliant and to find oneself, not in materialism, but in the spirit. To decide, based on Universal Law, what is true and right, and turn away from what is constantly spoon-fed to us through public service announcements, out-of-touch celebrity propaganda feeds and advertisements. We are living in the antithesis of transcendental philosophy. (I can only imagine what they would think about webcams as a "play-it-safe" substitute for actually being in the wilderness.) Simply put, the reliance on self-appointed ‘leaders’, computer-generated numbers and globalist-driven, Big Pharma medicine does not equal common-sense nor the preservation of life-force, or soul. Those that have read "Beneath the Mayan Stars" know I have explored this topic at length, and interwoven it into fiction. (Which is a bit more fun to read.)
Regardless, we have more than two choices. We always have. It is neither “this nor that” or “Coke or Pepsi”, “feast or famine”, "virus or economy". There are numerous doors to open besides what is behind Door Number One and Two. When we realize this, we are free. Anything is possible because no source of oppression or tyranny can own our soul unless we allow it. Nobody has the right to tell us how to think when we can think for ourselves. Unfortunately, it appears that our world leaders are capable of only one-dimensional thinking. Offering one blanket solution is a left-brain trap, void of creative alternatives.
For example, when the entire education system was disrupted a few months ago, I was left with contemplating how so-called online education for three kids was going to work, particularly when I felt strongly that they wouldn’t really be learning, but fumbling through watered-down requirements (i.e. busywork). That conundrum lasted about two days. At that point, I decided to withdraw my kids from the system entirely and home school them on my own terms, instructing them with an entirely new philosophy that does not resemble standardized, psychological-Skinner-ism/Pavlovian, Rockefeller education. It felt good to go out on our own. Free. I could breathe again. When we create and use our imagination, we break the matrix, and find that possibilities are endless.
And when we find the anchor that resides within ourselves, and discard the illusion that abounds, it is easy to find our way. A beacon of light shines to all who open their eyes. Intuition is strong. It is the force that moves through us. When we step out of doors and discover something beautiful, we become centered on what is real. After contemplating the existence of a new spring flower, the illusions on television or on a smart phone become obvious and we are to free ourselves. The trance has been broken. This becomes more and more difficult the longer one listens to the narrative that has been on loop for over three months. But it can be done!
In the movie “Oblivion” there is a scene that I love. The world has fallen to AI and drone surveillance is ominous. And yet, there is a place that is off the grid. It cannot be detected. It is a safe haven tucked away in the mountains where the semblance of a life once lived prevails…simplicity. An old record player and a collection of albums. Books. A make-shift basketball hoop. Nature. This is where the main character, Jack, escapes and although his memories have been wiped, his spirit, perhaps guided by love, offers him glimmers of the past and a world that was free. There is a glitch in his state of oblivion. He is waking up.
We all need a safe haven during this time. Find it. Do not forget the world as it was just months ago, no matter what “dark winter” is predicted. Be patient and aware that the truth is being buried and conformity rewarded. Create. Practice spontaneity. Let nature awaken you. Breathe deeply. Take in fresh oxygen. Trust the survival instinct for I believe we haven’t seen the end of this. Be weary of false prophets in the form of government officials and non-elected leaders. The snakes slither silently in the grass. They are prepping us and there’s more to come. But the world is awakening...there is hope.
And as for me, this is my last post for some time, as I am pulling a Henry David Thoreau and heading off to the woods. Wander on my friends…