Yes, it’s the New year! Whee! Wait, really? “Whee?” Not to worry, that was a most sarcastic “whee.” You would probably have to agree, it’s not starting out to be a “whee” kind of year. Ordinarily I would not let myself be a Negative Nellie on this page, but geez! It’s crazy out there, folks! Did any of you see a few of the New Year’s Eve tv specials, those “entertaining” shows that help us, guide us into this fantastic new year?
I did. And what I saw and heard was anything but entertaining. It was, well, more scary than anything else. So weird, so scary in fact, that I finally switched over to the news, only to find that was equally, if not more scary!
It’s funny, because even before the clock struck midnight here, I had the thought of, “Holy shit! I’ve lived too long! I can’t relate to or appreciate any of this!” It was a heavy moment, realizing (or at least thinking) that life had truly passed me by, moved on from everything I could believe in, could relate to, could even understand. Wow. And what happens to a person who has, accidentally, “lived too long?”
I happen to know that answer. For starters, they get freaked out. Their concept of reality is no longer the real reality. And if the new “reality” is not understandable, let alone acceptable, to the person who has lived too long, then what does that person do? How does that person even survive?
I know those answers as well. That person simply continues to live on “as if…” as if all that crazy shit were normal and didn’t affect him at all. That’s right, he continues to ride his horse and buggy through the choked streets of madding traffic, filled with sight and sounds so foreign, one must ignore them and encourage their “horse” to do the same.
Yeah, sure… already I know that’s not going to be so easy to do. Of course there are still snippets of the old ways, of logic, of reason, of natural selection. I also already know that I must be fearlessly selective about what news we watch from here on out… that nearly all news outlets will, either accidentally, or on purpose, undermine any sense of well-being we might possess, leaving us frightened and shaken, wondering, fearing what will happen next, and if it will somehow involve us. Because all too often I’ve heard those interviewees say, “We never dreamed it could happen here…”
Better begin dreaming, Becky, because it is happening everywhere! And since we are all somewhere, we have accidentally become in the line of potential fire. Now we’re having some fun, right? Keep watching the news, Ralph, because down the road apiece you’re likely as not to see yourself on it! Or a part of it…
We’re only three days into this new year, and already I’ve started on a new blog post that I’ll call “Back To The Sixties.” I can’t wait to write it, to research it, to find pics to fit it. It’s going to feel like way more than just writing… it will be, for me, an escape from what some of us now call “reality.” Because I swear to god, I no longer know for sure what reality is. But I damn sure know what it was, and I’m going to pursue that line of thought for at least the foreseeable future. Consider it an act of self-preservation. I’ve always been a me-me-me guy anyway, and now more than ever, I see the enemy, and it is not me!
I dislike calling anyone an enemy, as we are all one big family of mankind. But what else do you call a culture that has no regard for the rest of us, no respect, no sense of community whatsoever? If those “other people” won’t assist us when we are in need, and if they don’t want, and won’t accept assistance from us, then what the hell else can we possibly call them? Simply put, if they aren’t for the rest of us, then they must be against us. Sorry, but as it has been forever, the word enemy fits.
“Keep your friends close, your enemies closer” no longer flies with me. We already know where the negatives lurk, we know who and where our enemies are. We understand why they are our enemies, and we know that forgiving them holds little to no positive purpose, except perhaps to unburden ourselves from hate and general negativity. Better to begin circling your wagons if you haven’t already.
I’m guessing that most of us will begin focusing down on our lives, of the lives of our loved ones and family, if we haven’t already. For it’s time to let the larger, outside world go spinning off as it’s going to, and be concerned with who we spend our days and nights with, and strive to love and take care of those within our tiny orbits.
For the world has changed, and continues to change even more. It’s time for us to adapt and survive. We still want to live fulfilled and contented ives don’t we? We still want to be happy, don’t we? That’s what Happy New Year used to be all about, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it? And happy for whom?
I don’t know about you, but my wagons are circled, and my focus is only on my loved ones and family. By god I’m going to adapt and survive, one more time.
Steve Hulse
Ah Mr. Hulse – a very thought provoking story. The cartoon of the couple walking where he says “My desire to be well informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane” pretty much sums up the theme of your writings. Perhaps you worry too much – relax – pour a Jameson. After all, after we annex Canada, buy Greenland and takeover the Panama Canal, everything will be fine. Um – on second thought, you’re right – Circle the wagons!
Cheers!
Rg