Dancing with the Elephants

... in a post-truth world

Such a time it is!

• Dizzying

• Chaotic

• Heartbreaking

• Frightening at times.

• Disorienting? Definitely.

My oh my oh my oh my oh my!

"Elephants in the room?"

They seem to proliferate by the day!

So many things to NOT talk about - that we cannot talk about - depending upon whom we are talking with.

“There is not much truth being told in the world. There never was. This has proven to be a major disappointment to some of us.” – Anne Lamott in the Prelude to Grace (Eventually) – Thoughts on Faith

“Truth is the only safe ground to stand on.” – Elizabeth Cady Stanton

** lots more quotes about truth

Yet there seems so little appetite for truth in these odd, unsettled & unsettling times!

Things I Can't Talk About **

Can't talk about the horrid, horrifying truths of the Covid psyop (& all the other awful stuff so many of us have learned in the past few years) with (some now-former) friends & colleagues - & with some remaining friends/loved ones.

Can't explain why I'm not "woke" - to those who are. They'll just accuse me of being, I dunno. Racist? Homophobic? Transphobic? A nazi, maybe?

Can't tell the stubborn believers/followers of mainstream/legacy media that their news sources are simply brimming with lies & propaganda - & have done for a very long time. If only they would read this post. But. They won’t.

Can't explain the depth of the nastiness of the vaccine paradigm to those who've swallowed the "safe and effective" PR swill & who still believe in "the authorities" & that our (supposedly democratic) governments exist to actually serve the people (we who pay their salaries, mind you!)

Can't explain to the so-called "freedom" crowd that the environmental crisis is not a made-up thing - has been deepening for many decades - and that it consists of a great deal more than the media & the WEF & WHO & increasingly fascist "democratic" governments spew with their deliberately-weaponized-against-us version of what climate change is & what to do about it. (I was going to put a list of different issues/elements of it here - there's kind of an A to Z of them - but it's sooo depressing. Instead I'll just cite the World Scientists Warning to Humanity from 1992. It's worth a look.)

Can't explain to almost anyone, really, that the world (& every issue you care to name - every person you care to name!) is far more complex & complicated & nuanced than all this either/or, black/white, & current tribal demonizing mania suggests. Like the iceberg, you know?

But folks like their easy answers to things.

Sigh.

** Note: this is definitely not an exhaustive list. I can think of several other things. Pretty big ones, actually. But this will do for now.

So.

Sigh.

It can be a rather lonely, isolating time.

But.

And.

Moments of Grief. Moments of Gratitude. Moments of Grace.

Grief

I suppose it's self-evident that these are very grief-y times. The times are beyond heartbreaking! Our hearts are deeply broken - whether or not we know it, I think.

Literal deaths & suicides & economic chaos & horrendous health issues all around us.

I also find it very sad & very frustrating to find how little I can now discuss openly & honestly & intelligently with friends/loved ones who seem to have (very thick) blinders on.

Seems like the Pied Piper came to town & put an awful lot of us to sleep!

The Kool-Aid is plentiful indeed. Painful to see people still swilling it by the gallon.

One wants so badly to help protect people. Save their lives, for heaven’s sake! Their children's lives. But so many cannot hear what we are saying. Can't/won't hear the warnings.

It's painful.

It hurts!

I did a posting about Grief a while back. It seemed to go over well.

Gratitude

Well, I have this long-standing addiction to being actively grateful for things.

It helps keep me on track.

(There's a whole section on my other site with postings/great quotations about gratitude.)

I have had, & have, a full, rich, life.

I have awesome people in my life.

There are still a lot of great people in the world!

Even in this post-truth world, there are still many truth-tellers who are the real deal.

Integrity is not dead.

That's a lot!

I'm grateful.

Moments of Grace

There are many of these, too.

The other morning, I went for a walk. Gratitude & walking are maybe the 2 most sensible, grounding strategies I use to stay (vaguely) sane.

& found two neat books in the "Little Library" on the street I walk down to the lake on.

I'd dipped yet again the other day into Wampeters Foma & Granfalloons, a book by one of my all-time favourite writers - that self-proclaimed "old fart" Kurt Vonnegut (it's a book one can pick up anytime, dive into & be greatly rewarded by V-gut's wisdom & humour & compassion for humanity).

This time?

There in the Little Library was a book called The Writer's Desk, by Jill Krementz - Vonnegut's life partner in the latter half of his life.

Someone had inscribed the book with this quote:

"The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience." - Leo Tolstoy

A quotation I’d never run across before, and which rather neatly explains how & why it is I wound up spending 3 or so decades as an environmental activist (& writer).

Just ... following my conscience!

Grace.

Finding that book was pure grace!

Can I Tie This All Up Neatly??

Well.

I'll keep on dancing with all the darn elephants in the room, because ... what choice do I have??

I'll surrender - keep on surrendering to - moods of confusion & anger - grief & frustration - & keep on doing my best to be kind, & compassionate - & yes, grateful! - & mindful of the moments of grace there are in these fraught, difficult times.

Oh.

& also, open to moments of inspiration!

Like the one Mickey Z. shared in this posting.

It's a must-see - please trust me on that!

kindness is ALWAYS the best choice for all of us

Onward!