Well the election happened and much to the shock of the world, Trump has won. It has created a hell storm of craziness so here are my thoughts after the past couple of weeks...
I've been doing a lot of reflection lately, in order to combat anxiety and fear of the future. Fear is the mind killer. It offers nothing positive except to become more focused in a life or death situation. While many of us feel that we ARE in a life or death situation, most of us really aren't. I mean not right now. We fear that we will be in one in the next four years sometime, and we might, but I personally cannot deal with this level of anxiety for that long of a period of time and none of us were meant to. So how do we deal with what appears to be impending doom?
Well, first off, I'm stepping back and trying to view the incoming information with a more critical view. Since leaders are allowed to lie straight to our faces and get away with it and since journalism has completely turned into a reactionary tabloid in order to guide a herd of cattle from one side to another, I feel like nothing is really trustworthy anymore. I also feel like we really have no control over what is going on. If we peacefully assemble, we are brutalized and smeared. If we vote, our votes don't really count. It really comes down to the serenity prayer, which I think everyone knows, but mainly to focus on the part that says, "Accept the things I cannot change".
I am a spiritual being having a human experience. If I keep that in my mind then I cannot go wrong. No matter what happens, I'm having a human experience. I get that isn't helpful for some that don't believe in any afterlife at all but it helps me. Everyone has to figure out what helps them cope. I also think of the book "Conversations With God", which is rather unfortunately titled, but amazing and inspirational to read. In it, it talks about how the entire timeline already exists. Everything that has happened, is happening or will happen, has already happened. We just happen to be present at this dot on the timeline. If time travel was possible, we could jump to any spot and it would be "now" for us. Every time spot is "now" for someone. If I think about all of this as already having happened, then I just think about it as a sort of living history moment. I'm alive during a major event on the timeline and that in itself is terrifying but also intriguing and awe inspiring in its own way... Sort of like being part of a major surgery. Not that you'd wish it on the person on the table, but very interesting and amazing on a clinical level.
I'm seeing so much emotionally manipulative garbage everywhere right now. It's coming in from all sides. I keep screaming in my head, "They don't care! Why do you think they will suddenly care now when they haven't cared about the thousand horrible things before it?!!"
Just stop already! They don't care! We now live in a time where there are no more fucks to give. I think half the world is in a state of shock and reacting to the shock. I mean, I totally get it. It helps that I already lost faith in humans to do the right thing a long time ago. It means I had less of a distance to fall on my ass in shock like most everyone I know. It's human nature to feel hope because without hope we would be totally lost. When hope fades, people freak out. There's nothing more dangerous than a person who has nothing left to lose. When I watched the first Hunger Games movie, President Snow talked about hope and I've never forgotten what he said because it made so much make sense in this world... The way things are run and the way they turn out.
President Snow: Seneca... why do you think we have a winner?
Seneca Crane: [frowns] What do you mean?
President Snow: I mean, why do we have a winner? I mean, if we just wanted to intimidate the districts, why not round up twenty-four of them at random and execute them all at once? Be a lot faster.
[Seneca just stares, confused]
President Snow: Hope.
Seneca Crane: Hope?
President Snow: Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine, as long as it's contained.
As long as the Powers That Be, toss a few crumbs from the table, the people will have hope that things will get better... That they will move forward. They need us to believe that in order to maintain control. They also know they need to leave the people wanting because it's also human nature to always want more, no matter what we have. If we get what we want, we will want more. So we get crumbs and sometimes a bite of meat, but it will never likely be enough for us, just like the power and the money will never be enough for them.
