i have been out of sorts lately. ok- so i have been out of sorts since 2000- but i was making an attempt at optimism. obviously--a foreign concept for me. and i started thinking why? why am i so moody? other than the basic core of my personality, i think it it has to do with taking in and sucking up the world's problems. oh- and finding out that america is behind a large portion of them. whoever said that history is written and colored by the victors was right on the money. it continues to amaze me even at this moment how naive as a nation we were- and still are. we have been so pampered and sheltered from the rest of the world and it's unrest, we have no frame of reference to help us navigate uncertain waters. talk about ivory towers. we have been cocooned and coddled by the media and by our government into thinking that nothing bad could ever happen here. we live in a fairytale land- a 'shining city on a hill' if you will.
reality is a bitch, eh? nothing like the next day hangover to give folks something to think about. we have had it lucky for a couple of centuries and we have forgotten the hunger for freedom that drives folks- like the folks in burma or tibet or darfur or aw hell- pick anywhere else in the nonwestern world. we have it and we take it for granted every single day. i know i do. i try not to but it is a habit now. most folks think that if we don't think about the big issues- they'll work themselves out- or someone else will work them out. grownups know differently. there is no doubt that this country and this planet is ailing. we have a small window of opportunity here to right the wrongs we have done to both. we don't have much time though. we have to prioritize and we have to tackle the biggest issues first. and we have to do this as citizens of the planet first and americans second. can we do it? or will we continue to put other priorities first?
4 comments:
I know, betmo. I am peeking my head back into the fray a bit, and I think it was over at Watergate summer or Hope an politics (I can't remember) I found myself wondering if The "American Dream"- the America we all believed in; was EVER real or only a naive illusion.
I know I seem like an ostrich right now, but I'm still doing as I'm able. *sigh* I need to water the garden and take more pics. Thank you so much for your friendship and support.
The american dream ain't what it used to be and it NEVER was.
Howard Zinn's book gives the real people's history.
There is a buddhist practice that i am vaguely familiar with..its not for the complete novice..pema chodren writes about it. i forget the name but involves intentionally breathing in the negitivity taking it in..and breathing out compassion, love and positivity. Sometimes i do this a little before i go to sleep. I also make sure to realize how lucky i am , and be grateful thankful and as a way to make up for my good luck..keep on speaking out about injustice.
William Rivers pit..i got a post with a link to his essay "i may have gone insane" ,my post is called "reality check" and has a pretty neat youtube with it.
..both posts raise the question seriously - how can we expect to be sane when our culture is NUTs. Really ...we are suceptable. but you gotta read his essay. It answers what many of us are feeling.
"i think it it has to do with taking in and sucking up the world's problems. "
In this age of information as never before, that's easy to do. And as you go on to note, finding out this country was behind a lot of the trouble doesn't help one bit. I have finally learned to read of those things, and tell myself "I didn't do it!", so I don't take responsibility for them as tho they were my own. I try to fix them, but not take responsibility for what's already broken.
For better or worse, love it or hate it, Democracy, and our constitution is what have separated us from the rest of the world that you mention, for only we gave total and complete freedom to be whatever you wanted to be. Now that those freedoms are fast eroding, we are fast turning into just another banana republic.
It's always darkest before the dawn. Right now, in America, it is just past midnight.
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