I Am Not A "Pollyanna"
... just to be clear
I'm an oldster now (closing in on 71) & as a kid, watched & loved the Disney movie 'Pollyanna.' About a young girl who made everyone around her happy by always "looking on the bright side."
Merriam-Webster defines Pollyanna as
a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything
I am not a Pollyanna.
I do not wear "rose-coloured glasses."
I don't just believe in evil - I think it's on a pretty nasty rampage these days.
Why am I bringing this up?
Because lately I seem to be posting essays that could loosely be described as vaguely ... uplifting? That are meant to be sort of ... "helpful" in some way. In these so-particularly challenging times.
Whereas I spent many years doing deep research (& activism) on a wide variety of environmental issues (from soup to nuts, pretty much), then writing about them & "what we can do" to make things ... you know ... better. I did that for a lot of years.
& now?
The world has gone utterly cuckoo.
I'm sure you've noticed.
So.
Although I do believe that evil both exists - & is on a rampage.
And though I believe our species is a very-very (very) long way down a very dark road.
And there is this visceral run-away-train-ish feeling to it all.
It's kind of like being - as a species? - at the bottom of a very deep swamp. And it just seems to keep getting deeper & deeper & muckier & yukkier by the day ... you know??
And/but … here we still are!
For now.
And while a ton of very fine people are writing (on Substack & no doubt other platforms) about it all - hugely intelligently! - & discussing it all (on podcasts & such) - hugely helpfully & intelligently!
The thing is, for me?
I've pretty much run out of steam as regards the convincing business.
That kind of energy has drained right out of me.
Almost 100%.
***
The Covid era kind of changed everything
I personally lost a lot of old ideas (& illusions) - about the way things really operate here on good old Planet Earth - & even some friends! I joke that my "tribe" is down to about a dozen people now. (Okay. It’s bigger than that.) But it's really shrunk!
Since I can't honestly paint any rainbow scenarios about how we can "fix" or "save" or even change the world, it feels like time to focus on more or less the theme of how to stay (more or less) sane in the midst of the madness.
Oh.
One last important thing.
My heart is definitely broken about it all.
It's been broken for a long time now (pre-Covid, for sure, & way back before the CV era).
I hope that goes without saying.
Janet
p.s. I'll keep on reading lots of Substacks (take a look at my recommended list; I'm reading a lot of them!?), & listening to interesting podcasts. Not necessarily sharing all the views of all the fine people I read or listen to. After all, having spent decades since the mid-1980s digging pretty deeply into the truths about human activity on Planet Earth - & its consequences - I've formed some of my own strong, informed opinions about what's up & where we're headed.
And, I might add, being very-very grateful indeed for the proliferation of great writers & activists & out-and-out heroes of all kinds who’ve come forward!! 🙂 🙂
p.p.s. A few examples of recent postings about navigating these difficult times:
Just Be A Good Human
One Day on the Streetcar. Being Kind
Staying Sane
p.p.p.s. I sure love this old Joni Mitchell song!