Day 263

 Saturday November 28, 2020

The day known in the United States as Thanksgiving is over.  From now on  I will call it a "day of thanks", but it will have little to do with a celebration of history. It will simply be a time to be thankful for what the universe has delivered to all of us. (or them.) The division of this so called United States has been separated by politics and issues around race, police action, and our American history.  

According to Psychology Today,  "In 2017, 44 percent of Democrats had an unfavorable opinion of the GOP, and 45 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners view the Democratic Party unfavorably. You can imagine that today, these numbers are likely even higher. Back in 1994, less than 20 percent in both parties held extreme negative views of the other side."

This has led to a country that questions one another and not in a inquisitive way, but in a damning way. In a manner that shows disrespect and hatred. In such a way that the country was on a watch list for potential violence after the presidential election. 

Violence after an election?  

Bipartisan thinking is not in favor these days.  It is clear there are two sides. 

Republican and democrat. Liberal and conservative. Blue and red. Us and them. 

Us and them is a song recorded by Pink Floyd in 1973 and appears on the album "Dark 

Side of the Moon" The year 2020 has brought light to these lyrics. As you read them, remember all this year has brought to both us and them. 

Us and Them

And after all we're only ordinary men

Me, and you

God only knows it's not what we would choose to do

Forward he cried from the rear

and the front rank died

And the General sat, as the lines on the map

moved from side to side

Black and Blue

And who knows which is which and who is who

Up and Down

And in the end it's only round and round and round

Haven't you heard it's a battle of words

the poster bearer cried

Listen son, said the man with the gun

There's room for you inside

Down and Out

It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about

With, without

And who'll deny that's what the fighting's all about

Get out of the way, it's a busy day

And I've got things on my mind

For want of the price of tea and a slice

The old man died

The separation of our nation has much to do with the lack of communication between parties and people. We are interested in like-thinking individuals (us) and are not open to the ideas of others (them). This leads to speculation of thought and misbeliefs. We cannot know the views of others unless we listen to them and understand them.  We may not always agree, but we can understand perspective and have empathy, a trait this country is desperately lacking.  

In his poem, The Evening-Watch: A Dialogue, Henry Vaughan writes in the first verse," Farewell! I go to sleep; but when The day-star springs, I'll wake again." 

Let all of us each new day be open to what we listen to. Let us extend our thinking beyond what we know well. Let us see others and their human perspective even though it may not be of our own ilk. 

We all have a role to play in this life. Will we be remembered? Will our life be memorable? Maybe it already is and maybe it is yet to be. As Sigmund Bloom said, “This story of life has already been told. The book has already been written. It’s up to you to choose which character you want to be in that story.”

Every day is a new chapter in your life and an opportunity to be the character in the story that is your life. Be it for a few or for many. Your words and existence have meaning, influence (great or small) and voice. The unique voice that is your own. May it be a voice of reason and understanding. A heartfelt voice of love and compassion and hope. Although our hope may be in the future, the love and compassion are for today. 

Be present and acknowledge people.

Listen and learn. 

Bring us and them together as one. 

Day 256

Saturday November 21, 2020

I am presently sitting on the couch drinking my usual morning coffee. With Pucci, our long hair dachsund, staunchly lying beside me I begin the quest of writing down not only my thoughts, but an account of the last week. Yesterday we finished remote teaching and look forward to a week off. The vacation time comes with no travel, no family and no celebration. It is a time for us to relax and refuel.

A time to think solely of ourselves while being thankful for those we love and help those in need. This season for us has become less about tradition and more about condition. The situation we find ourselves and how we can be benevolent.  The current reality is we are healthy and fortunate to be working during the pandemic. While much of the world spars with the virus and the rising infection rates, the U.S. is faring no better and in some ways worse. 

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in several U.S. states is growing more rapidly than anywhere else in the world. Dante learned in The Divine Comedy to escape hell one must go through the center of it. I suppose as we journey through this pandemic we are in the center of hell and must proceed through it in order to exit.  The suffering will continue.

The nation of the United States of America is in trouble. The divide in this country has caused a separation of thought and cohesiveness.  Our divided states has brought about carelessness instead of unity.  We struggle because we do not care. The pandemic has played its part, our government has a role and so do all of us. We have fought and tried to remain diligent in our fighting, but we have failed. We have failed each other. We will continue to do battle with this coronavirus, but ultimately it will win the war. In fact it already has to the point of 250,000 lives lost.  Humans are survivors and those that live will move on and make adjustments to survive, but the losses will be many and the pain will be much to bear. The holidays will not be the same. The joy will be tinged with a scent of sorrow and hopelessness as we move deeper into the winter and the discontentment that comes with loss. 

So as I sit and write and try to remain present knowing the concepts of past and future have little meaning to the persistent flow of thoughts streaming in my mind. It is verily an ongoing quandary of how we separate the "I" from the "me". Alan Watts, says, "the truth is revealed by removing things that stand in it's light..." and I perceive unawareness as a darkness shrouding our present mindfulness.

Alan Watts describes the mind and it's inability to stop thinking. We think thoughts that are not present and thus those thoughts cause anxiety or fear or pain. Even a joyful thought of our past is really just a piece of our present because we are thinking of it now. And the memory may be cheerful in nature, it reminds us of what is not now and that can trigger sorrow.  In this video Watts explains the only way to stop the mind from thinking is to leave it alone. And thus by leaving it alone, "it will quiet itself" 

Alan Watts - The Mind

Day 249

 Saturday November14, 2020

In her book, Gift from the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh talks of the ebb and flow of relationships. It provided fuel to my thoughts of this current time in our lives.  How we have ridden the tides of this pandemic for days, weeks and months and have implemented strategies to stay sane and secure our humanness. We have been shut in, put out and inconvenienced for so long and with no true end in sight. 

Our hopes lie in a vaccine, one not yet created, in which we will not know the impact until massive distribution is complete.  Even then, we will be unassured of complete eradication of this coronavirus which has lived among us for so long. Like the popular game Among us, each of us could be the imposter carrying the virus and infecting others.  We crewmates must navigate this tenuous earth and with each day comes risk.  Some days are safe at home while others are days we feel more exposed. 

We venture through places where others abound and wonder who is a potential carrier. Everyday is an ebb and flow of feelings. Everyday is the ebb and flow of questions. Am I being safe enough? Should I go out today? When will we feel completely at ease? Will the imposter always be among us? 

The ultimate imposter being the virus itself, a parasite feeding off human behavior.  We like to be around each other. We feel the need to gather. We long for human touch. And with this innate desire the ultimate imposter is transmitted throughout the world. In the United States the infection is rate is skyrocketing in nearly every state. New mandates regarding lockdowns, curfews and gatherings are being put in place, yet the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths continues to rise. A recent graph for the NY times shows alarming numbers.

We as a country have reported over 100,000 cases ten days in a row. And the world is faring no better as Italy, Poland, Russia, India and other counties are seeing an increase in cases.  Efforts are being made as many schools have returned to remote learning or will do so after the Thanksgiving break. 

Governments are putting curfews and mandates in place to decrease the amount of human contact, but it seems that enough people are not giving the effort needed. Many still do not social distance nor where a mask. Gatherings, parties and events are still taking place. In India, a five day Hindu festival, Diwali, will be celebrated beginning this weekend. 

People say, "life must go on. We have to live." 

This is something we have never experienced before and having our privileges and freedoms taken from us makes many of us defensive and rebellious.

Yet it comes at a cost. And I suppose some people are okay with that. We are a population of humans who are the same in configuration of cells and organs and senses, but in our minds we are diverse and it is with our thoughts and actions we tell our story. 

We all must playout this pandemic each in our own way. And thus the ebb and flow of it is intertwined with our daily decisions. For better or worse our humanism will be both our greatest triumph and our greatest failure. Here are the words of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 

"We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom..."

Good Luck everyone. There is no doubt this pandemic will leave it's indelible mark on all of us.

May your god, spirit animal or universal subconscious be with you. 

Day 242

 Saturday November 7, 2020

The days are shorter, cooler and consistently more fall-feeling. As Maren would say it's sweater weather. She says this as an inside joke because I love sweaters. Here is a photo from 2012 during the filming of Sane in 1974. I am also sporting a moustache. This is November or Movember (which asks men to grow a moustache as a reminder to bring awareness to men's health)

I recently heard from my friend George that he has prostate cancer. He has some tests coming up that will help determine which steps to take (surgery, radiation treatment, etc.) He sounded encouraged that it could be controlled. I think about him and hope to visit with him soon. This pandemic is really making travel difficult. It is once again the fear of the unknown making simple decisions more strenuous.  This is, for many of us, the current reality. Each day brings with it a level of anxiety and uncertainty we are typically not accustomed to.  However with the pandemic going on for as long as it has (hello, day 242) this everyday anxiousness has become common. Simple tasks like going to the grocery store or work bring out some feelings of stress. As the number of infections continues to rise all across the globe we continue to feel the pressure. In some sense, we will all be lucky to escape this pandemic without being infected. For some nearly 50 million people who have been infected it has been real and for the 1.2 million who did not survive we mourn. The road to recovery can be long. I spoke with a person the other day who said a friend was infected in March and is still dealing with the effects of the virus.  Some reports say you may never recover to full capacity in an article from Hackensack Meridian Health, "For some who recover from COVID-19, symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle pain, confusion, headaches and even hallucinations are among the growing number of issues survivors face following the illness." In the U.S. many states are seeing an increase in reported cases. In Colorado, the governor has issued a be home by 10:00 PM curfew to help slow the spread. 

On November 6th there were 132,540 new cases. Now onto some political news. It is not official, but it appears we will have a new POTUS beginning in January.  The polls are closed and the counting of ballots is still occurring. Presidential candidate Joe Biden is close to having the 270 electoral votes he needs to secure the win. He spoke last night and was eloquent and honest. He was a calming voice in these troublesome times. Our country is divided and may continue to be so until the new administration can completely move into the White house and begin to make the necessary changes for the healing of our country and it's people. We are hurting. We are a proud nation and sometimes that pride gets in the way of being human. It prevents us from thinking rationally and our actions can be downright unfathomable. There will be an announcement any day regarding the election results and already businesses in many major cities are boarded up in anticipation of riots and vandalism.  What kind of nation are we that we have to perform acts of violence and the defacing of public property over a decision made by a democratic society? The United States is in pain. We have been put through four years of unrest. Social unrest, civil disorder and a nation divided on important topics including the one to keep us all safe. And as I am writing this the Associated press has called the election. It is official Joe Biden has defeated Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States. 

And all I can say is Here we go America.