Escape Reality - Dark Mirrors Blog

Up and Down

8/9/2022

The good news is that I’ve been productive the past couple of weeks. I finally published Zack’s Adventures, my collection of short stories about our parrot, last week. The week before that, I pre-published A Christmas Proposal with a release date of November 1, 2022. It’s been a lot of work, but well worth it to have these two projects completed before I start the process of finalizing Inversion and the full volume of The Sentience Series the final week of this month. That is my final “pandemic project,” and I look forward to completing this series and having closure on this chapter of life. Lord willing, it should publish by mid-September.

But of course, great progress often is followed by a crash. I’ve been knocked out with a sinus infection these past few days. It looks like I’m taking an unintended break from writing while I heal from this infection, since antibiotics aren’t great for creativity and attention to detail. They’re great for killing excess bacteria, but not so good with side effects. And my workouts won’t work out either, as they make me more prone to tendinitis – and nobody’s got time for that.

I was hoping to work on some Halloween and holiday flash fiction/short stories, that will have to wait. It’s ok. These things happen and at least I’m at a place where I can take a week off from writing without it throwing me off track. Not so good for the day job, as that has to press on. All I can do is my best, and at a slower pace. It will have to be ok. It’s the best I can do, and my best this week isn’t going to be up to par with “normal.”

That’s life. Sometimes you can’t forge on, and you have to pivot and adjust. The wiser course of action is to realize when you’re plan is beaten, and to take necessary course corrections. At least this is minor, temporary, and manageable. I’ve had my share of the life changing, permanent, “things that can’t be fixed and you have to learn to live with them” these past couple of years. An infection is disappointing, but temporary. It can and will be overcome. I’ll feel better, probably tomorrow and definitely by the end of the week. And the muse will return as the antibiotic completes it’s work and filters out of my body over the weekend and next week.

So this week, I pare down to the minimum and rest. It’s awkward for me, as I’m used to having more energy and accomplishing a lot, but sometimes you have to slow down. Who knows? Things tend to work out, and next week is full of creative promise.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.

Bye!

A Need for Healing

7/26/2022

Do you know what I think the real problem is with the world? I think that the COVID-19 pandemic left everybody hurt and traumatized, and we don’t know how to heal ourselves. Perhaps all of the rage we see in society isn’t about issues as much as it’s about not knowing how to heal from our spiritual and emotional pain.

The past couple of years certainly have been hard on everybody. I haven’t met anybody who hasn’t struggled with grief, loss, change, illness, injury, or trauma since 2020. It seems that society has a collective case of post traumatic stress syndrome, and there’s no wide-scale cure for it. Different things speak to different people so, unfortunately, there’s no one fix that will help everybody. Each individual has to look within to reconcile the life they have now, on the other side of this chaos, and accept the present that exists.

I often have to remind myself that the past is gone, and this is a new day. Old things have passed away, both literally and figuratively depending on what situation and context I’m addressing. Acceptance comes hard, especially when the losses are things that we didn’t want to let go of, and yet that’s exactly what we must do. We must accept what we have and do the best we can with it if we want to continue to thrive and move forward in the purpose for our life.

Acceptance doesn’t mean that your pain is ok. Quite the opposite, it’s an internal agreement to reconcile that grief and pain into who and what you are today, and grow around it to find new hope and a new future. It means you can find joy, contentment, and happiness in the life that you’ve got. And you might as well do that, because you can’t get another reality. Sorry. For all of the theoretical physics on time, string theory, and the multiverse, it’s theoretical. That means “not real.” Believe me, I’ve noticed that I delved more into this in the past couple of years working through my own issues, but the truth is that I’ve had to look in the mirror, accept who I am today, and move on.

The process is different for us all, but I think one thing is collectively true: we have to let go, accept reality, and move on. Clinging to resentment and anger over things that happened one or two years ago is hurting us, and we need to take our lessons and get past it. It’s time to heal. It’s time to do what we must to become a new creation and make that “new normal” that we said we wanted.

It’s time to stop being a victim and start being a victor. It can be done. All you have to do is decide to do better, and live that truth each and every day.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that people who suffered recent tragedies should “get over it.” I’m simply saying that you need to be self aware enough to know what stage you’re in, and work through it properly. If you put a family member in hospice yesterday, lost a loved one last week, are recovering from an illness or injury that happened a month ago, or are struggling with home or job problems that manifested two weeks ago, then you're you are obviously at a different point on the path to healing, and shouldn't rush it. The purpose of this entry is to deal with the lingering grief and stress over things that happened in 2020 or early 2021 that we really need to move past and find peace with.

I know it’s not easy. I’m on that journey with you, and still have my days with setbacks that leave me upset, embarrassed, and wondering if I’m making any progress. It’s ok. We all falter. The key is to get up the next morning and start again with new resolve. The Lord’s mercies are new every morning. Accept that gift and be grateful for it.

A lot of people think the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and I understand why. It’s discouraging to see how anger and rage have set us back so much. But thankfully, it’s not too late to turn that around. I pray every day that the Lord will pour His healing power on every person in this world so that maybe, one day, we’ll wake up and start making individual progress that finally leads to a better day and a better way for all of us. And perhaps this will turn around, for the good of all.

Anything is possible. Despite what I said in my last entry, I haven’t lost hope for a better, progressive future for humanity. We just have to get more people focused on healing themselves and moving in a right direction. That comes with each and every one of us finding our healing, and moving forward in the wisdom that our trials provided.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Descent into Chaos

7/20/2022

Somebody recently asked me if anybody remembers “the greatest generation,” and I replied: yes, every member of Generation X because they were our grandparents, and I assure you that our grandfathers didn’t go to World War 2 to create the world we live in now. I think it’s shameful 14 House Democrats were arrested yesterday at a protest. I thought our elected officials were supposed to be dignified representatives that we look up to, people who will petition for our interested in right and legal ways, pillars of society that are an example of the people they represent at their best.

This is sinking to the lowest common denominator. And 77 years later we’ve lost appreciation for all The Greatest Generation did for us.

As I said, it’s shameful. Then again, I suppose it’s a trait of humanity. A read through the Old Testament of The Bible proves that history is taking one more turn of the wheel. The Israelites appreciated The Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the desert, but it only took one generation for the peoples’ faith to falter and the descent into chaos to begin. There were ups and downs, but it ended in 70 years of captivity because they so completely lost their way that destroying the world they knew was the only way to reset. And here we are, doing it again. Only we didn’t get the message with COVID, so the spiral of descent with civil unrest and uncontrolled anger continues.

I’d say we need another great reformer like Martin Luther or Winston Churchill, but we’d probably silence them. Oh wait, those great men were silenced. Martin Luther had to go into hiding, and Winston Churchill was voted out of office once the war was over.

Sigh. So here we go again. One more time through the cycle. Lord help us all.

It makes me sad. I remember Granddaddy telling me stories of his days in the Navy during World War 2. It was tough, but he had pride in what they accomplished to help the world. Grandpop didn’t like talking about his days in the Army on the European front, but the few times he mentioned it, he expressed gratitude that it was “worth something.” Not anymore, gentlemen. Now our elected officials are getting arrested along with common protestors instead of campaigning and working for what the people want from inside of the system like they're supposed to.

I write ebooks about a brighter future, but I worry whether it’s possible anymore. We're getting worse, not better. We aren't striving or trying to improve, we're de-evolving. What happened to grace and dignity? What happened to leading by example? What happened to inspiring by positive action? What happened to humility and dignity?

I don’t care which side of debates or politics you stand on: being a civilized human being is always right. And elected officials getting arrested isn’t cool or right. It’s shameful. I’ll bet they won’t be pulling these attention-getting stunts when it’s time for their re-election campaign. I hope their handlers will at least have sense enough to tell them to get it together and find their professional decorum.

I pray this is a temporary low spot in the shock of the post COVID world, and that we’ll wake up and realize that it’s not too late to make a better present and future. And I’ll continue to pray and to do my best to talk in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, even if my elected officials don’t.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Exploring the Darkness

7/5/2022

Many people have been surprised by the dark turn that Stranger Things took this season and yet, it’s still so popular that we crashed Netflick server when the second part of Season 4 dropped Friday. Fans appreciate the evolution of the series, while others are left to wonder what we find so compelling about this dark urban fantasy that seems to have captured our mindset.

It's simple. This is art-imitating life, and we can relate to it. COVID has claimed 6.34 million lives to date, and those deaths didn’t happen in a vacuum. All of those people had family and friends who were devastated by their loss. It’s a given that we’ve all probably known at least one person who lost their life to this pandemic – my husband lost three friends to it in 2020. And these losses aren’t the only ones: also consider that people continued to suffer and pass from other things during that time, and visitation in hospitals and hospice care pretty much ceases, leaving families to deal not only with loss, but with coping with the added element that we couldn’t be there for our loved ones. The reaper came knocking on all of our doors in 2020-2021 in some way, shape, or form, and we’re all grieving and suffering from the post traumatic stress of a scary world.

So when you heard that grandfather clock chime, it resonated in ways more than the mysterious Scooby-Doo vibe from our youth. We know that monsters are real, and it’s easier to visualize it as a 7+ foot monster than a virus that attacked at a microscopic level. We did fear what was unseen. Perhaps at some level, we still do.
Oh yes, we’ve seen the darkness. We were forced to face it, and now it’s coming out in our art as we attempt to cope, to understand it better, and to move forward and hopefully find some light. Unfortunately, as with real life (spoiler alert), the season did not have a happy ending. In fact, much like in reality, the tale will continue into the next season.

Don’t these tales always continue? It seems a constant cycle of dealing with triggers and figuring out the best way to move on. Have we really overcome? Do we see the light? Or does that darkness continue to break through into our world, raining ash on all of our hopes and dreams for the future.

I hope not. I will admit that my writing has gotten darker in the past couple of years. I realized that happy endings don’t always happen, and when they do it’s usually at the loss of something held dear. Or at least, that’s an evolving theme in my own writing. I’ve been told that “Free,” my winning Reedsy story, was my darkest and most disturbing piece yet. It’s following the trend. I guess we’re probing the darkness so we can step into the light with the wisdom, knowledge, and skills we need lest it should return in the future. Or at least, to cope with what we hope is a better balance in life moving forward. I can honestly say that we appreciate the light a lot more these days.

Let’s hope not. Actually, that Reedy story inspired me to attempt more humor in my writing. We may be trying to figure out the darkness, but we also need to get back into the light, and moments of levity are necessary. Even Stranger Things had it’s humorous elements throughout to connect viewers with the full range of reality.

It seems that art and life imitating each other is an endless circle. Here's hoping it's a cathartic release to prepare us to continue our journey into the light.

And finally, if you've had Metallica's "Master of Puppets" stuck in your head since the weekend, then this one's for you. You're in good company!

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Watching the World Burn

6/26/2022

Roe vs. Wade was overturned Friday morning, and the media has been filled with outrage. I guess nothing else has happened in the world, because every time I log in to something, it's about this for the third straight day. The outrage has ignited - again - and it's time to burn down the world.

But wait - didn't somebody say it requires a biologist to define a woman a few months ago? What changed? We learned to identify gender again awfully fast.

I'm using my platform for something slightly different: namely, to ask what happened to the middle ground? Moderates have been driven to extinction, forced to take sides that have become radicalized over the past couple of decades. What happened? When did this polarity evolve? When did we, as a society, decide that we won't allow shades of gray, we won't allow compromise, we won't allow a voice to all sides without screaming and fighting to dominate with our sacred opinions?

I turned it off firstly because I have a life. I had some home repairs to attend to late Friday morning, so I had to abandon the pundits on the radio to take care of my business. Unlike those filled with righteous rage, I have a life that requires active interaction to keep things moving, so I've been busy attending to my responsibilities. Adulthood is like that. It can be a real pain in the butt sometimes but alas, it is what it is, and I choose a contented, productive life which means focusing on what I'm supposed to be doing and keeping the ball rolling.

It means I have to shut it off every now and then and be a grown up.

I'm not saying you don't have a right to your opinion. I'm saying we all have a right on how or whether we express it, and I'm so sick of the screaming, so sick of the rage, so sick of the anger and protests and power plays that I don't want any part of this. I have enough to do in my real, day to day life. I'm sticking with that. I've been saying over and over that I want to do better, and that means having a proper focus and priorities. I've been in situations where circumstances forced me to live against my priorities for a period of time, and THAT'S a cause for righteous rage. I have no intention of voluntarily walking into that scenario again because I've been negligent or irresponsible in my personal life.

I know what matters and what's worth my energy. Protesting one side or the other isn't it for me. I'll just sit here, do my thing, and watch the world burn. Again. It seems to keep happening. A time will come to exercise my voice, and it's called Election Day. I will keep a casual eye on the news to keep up with what I need to know so I can make an informed decision when that day comes.

I know, you probably think I just don't get it, and you're right. I don't. Of course conservatives have stuck back after years of being screamed at and bullied by the left. That's what happens when you polarize and eliminate the middle ground. You create a war of wills. That's what we see now. We're reaping what we've sown. Frankly, I'm scared of where this might go.

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Cool Tips to Beat the Heat

6/16/2022

It’s not your imagination: summers are hotter now than they were even 30 years ago. It used to be unheard of for the temperatures to soar beyond the low 90’s. Now it’s a fact of life, and it’s not summer by the calendar yet. Believe what you want about global warming and climate change, but one fact is undisputable: summers are longer and hotter than they used to be. Industrialization has changed the world we live in, and this is the price of our modern lifestyle. Get used to getting hot.

There’s plenty of advice about how to keep cool and beat the heat. Today, I’d like to give you some lesser known tips to keep cool when the world outside is deep-fried insanity. Take it from a lifelong southerner: we know hacks to keep our cool when the world around us is cooking. For example:

Darkening curtains. HVAC units are designed to function in the range of outdoor temperatures of 30 – 95 degrees. Outside of that range, they’ll struggle, perhaps as much as 3-5 degrees. You can still be comfortable in this range, but it means that it will take longer to cool once the sun sets. Darkening curtains can help with this differential, especially in rooms that get midday and late afternoon sun.

Use fans. I recently spoke to an HVAC technician who said the best thing you can do is give your unit an assist with fans. Ceiling fans are good because they can help to reduce the humidity, which means you feel cooler. Cooking and showering also generates heat and humidity, and those exhaust fans over our stove and in bathrooms can help ease the heat and humidity as well.

Cut back on heat generating activities between 5-7 p.m. This is actually the time where activity on the electrical grid is highest, so it puts more strain on the system. Try to limit things like cooking and running dryers during these hours. Plus, it’s also the hottest part of the day. You may also want to open your garage door to ventilate it during these days, or even run a fan to circulate the hot air out of that area. As far as means, try to stick with ones that cook faster and implement fresh fruits and vegetables that can be served cold. Now is not the time to recreate a huge meal for “Christmas in June.” Go with seasonal fare.

Wear sandals. Southern girls grow up knowing this trick: how your feet feel affect your entire body. Dumping socks on the hottest days goes a long way in keeping you cooler. (Conversely, wearing them when it’s cold will keep you warmer). There are plenty of nice summer shoes that you can wear sans-socks. Invest in them. Believe me, it’s an investment in yourself and your own comfort.

Park in the shade. The temperature on asphalt and concrete can be up to 20 degrees hotter than the outside temperature. That can be particularly brutal when you get off work at 5:00 and the temperature is 100+ degrees with a heat index of 110. Help yourself and your car by parking in a spot that gets midday and late afternoon shade. Using a windshield shade and cracking your windows slightly can also keep your car from feeling like an oven after work.

Slow down. Our stress hormones rise with the thermometer, and often we don’t realize it until we embarrass ourselves with an angry outburst. It takes a lot of self-awareness to understand how triggers are creating stress between our minds and bodies. Heat is often the first trigger, so we need to be mindful and slow down to make sure that we’re staying on the track that we want. This article gives helpful tips to manage anger in the hot weather. In addition to identifying triggers, I’d also encourage you to slow down, and be more aware of taking care of your mental and physical health, especially when it comes to relaxation techniques that work for you.

Don’t poke or pick up sticks. There are three things I don’t like: live snakes, dead snakes, and sticks that look like snakes. That stick might not be a stick. This tip won’t keep you cool, but it will keep you safe. And sane, because that would be an unpleasant discovery indeed that will raise your stress and lead to problems that nobody has time for.

Above all, I urge you to use common sense. Stay hydrated, stay indoors during the hottest part of the day, and etc. These heat waves pass too. Hang in there. We’ll make it, and we'll appreciate fall more too.

That’s all today. Take care and stay cool. Have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Bye!

Wake Up (Again)

6/6/2022

I first saw that quote on Twitter, but I’ve seen it a lot lately and, in light of my break last week, I think I finally understand what it’s about, at least to me. I can see why it’s popular, though, because it can be interpreted in a number of ways that can inspire people to embrace their authenticity and to live true to their purpose.

To some, it’s a statement of authenticity. They’re tired of everybody telling them what to do, and want the freedom to be themselves. This was a big issue with me in my 20’s and early 30’s, and I certainly understand. It especially resonates in that way with me as the baby of the family. It seems that everybody has been in authority over my for my entire life, and I had to push a little harder and constantly remind people that I’m a capable adult with a mind and a will of my own.

To some it’s a statement of rebellion. I remember a line from Dazed and Confused that’s stuck with me for my entire adult life: “the older you get, the more rules they’re gonna try to make you follow.” There’s truth in that. There are some people who can’t win, and they get tired of being judged and deemed unworthy because who and what they are isn’t acceptable to the cliques around them. This dismisses the cliques and empowers individuals to make choices true to their calling. And really, I see the point because it is juvenile. It’s shameful to see adults behaving like middle school children and thinking that they’re being clever and professional.

To some, it’s a reminder to return to your purpose. Humans are easily distracted. If we don’t get distracted by something shiny and new, then we get burned out stagnation or slow progress, and fall into “maintenance routines” of getting by in daily life. This quote is a great reminder that building something takes time and consistent effort, which means you have to keep at it, every day, and never give up. It reminds us not to get discouraged by failure, slow progress, or what others think about what you’re doing. Keep working, don’t give up, and keep the faith.

And this is where this statement finds me: as an encouragement to keep the faith in building my dreams for this season of life, and not to give up despite discouragement. This quote made me realize that life moves in seasons, and I need to accept, embrace, and work with the season that I’m in. If I remain true and faithful, then the pursuit of my dreams will bring the right people with the correct connections to me. It’s not about saying “to hell with people.” Rather, it’s about giving yourself the space to find the right things and people in your life for right now.

I see why this quote is popular. It can mean many things, all of them inspiring. What does it mean to you?

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Personal Lockdown

5/31/2022

One of my writing groups on Facebook is on a one week lockdown. The moderator said that the level of rule breaking and abuse was getting out of control, and felt the best solution was to shut it down for a week while he purged the group of the offenders, and the rest of us could have a break to recover from the madness.

I thought that was such a good idea that I'm implementing it in my own life. There were some disappointments last week and frankly, I'm not tolerating the snark and funky attitude anymore. I try to be a positive person, but what you allow continues, and clearly it's time to enforce some boundaries. So I'm following suit: I only left the house when necessary over the long weekend, I wrapped up my writing goals for last week and the weekend, and after updating this blog I will take the rest of this week off writing. Social media will be limited to what's required to meet the requirements for my publishers and already-scheduled posts for promotion in progress.

I need to pray, think, meditate, and consider the wisest way to move forward. I know that's vague and I'm sorry, but I don't think it's good to give these petty things time, space, or attention to grow. The point is to snuff this negativity out of life and stay on a track of sowing good seeds for the hope of a better present and future.

Frankly, I think we need to go into lockdown again - or rather, timeout. The world has done mad, and people need to drop out, heal, and think. It's absolutely impossible to get better if you don't give better, but we don't seem to get it. I don't know how far we have to fall until we hit that "bottom limit" where we can't take it anymore. I'm ready to see some light in life. I don't understand why others aren't.

I think it's best for me to copy the idea of the break so I can do my own evaluation and reset. We should all probably do that from time to time, even if it's only to make sure that we're still on the track that we want to be on. I can't do it literally, as I've already taken my vacations. But I can take a "personal lockdown" to pray, meditate, and consider whether adjustments are needed on the course I've set. When I said I wanted to "do better" for my New Year's Resolution, I meant it, and I haven't forgotten it. I'm still as dedicated to that goal as I was on January 1, and I've seen too much progress to forget it now.

I have a sign on my cubicle wall at work that reads "Don't wish for it; work for it." I'm a firm believer in the power of prayer, but you also have to do your part. I'm not sure where these recent frustrations came from, but I don't want to fall prey to them. I'll be darn if I'll let the devil drag me down to the lowest common denominator of this world and ruin my progress. Heck, my goal is the opposite: I'm trying to be a light toward a better path, not just for me but for everybody I cross paths with. I need to figure out how to properly manage these "distraction demons" so I can not only break on through to the other side, but show others how to do so as well.

Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

The Problem is People

5/25/2022

When are we going to get it? When are we finally going to put responsibility where it belongs, instead of hiding behind external factors for the problems we have in society today? It’s really very simple, as I read in one line of my C.S. Lewis devotional this morning: "tempers seem less controlled than they used to be.". That’s from The Great Divorce, which was published in 1945.

It’s gotten worse. I touched on this in my last blog entry. Today, I’m being less gracious because we have extreme proof that makes me mad at what the world has become.

When will we finally learn that we don’t have gun problem, we have a people problem? I’ve said countless times in this blog that there’s an atmosphere of anger and confusion in the world that we have to overcome if we really want to create the future that we say we want. And yet, we still scream and snark over our ideals, while the Texas school shooter was posting on social media that he was going to do what he did yesterday, and – nothing. We let it happen because we can snark about stuff that’s none of our business, but when it comes down to real things that need intervention, we get scared and silent.

It’s a lot different when you go up against something real, isn’t it? Well dear everybody who knew him and "never thought he'd do it: your condolences are as meaningless as your observations, opinions, and regrets right now." This was 100% avoidable, but nobody invoked their snarky opinions the one time it could have made a tremendous difference. There's no way you can explain or justify that to 21 grieving families today. All you can do is pray for forgiveness and greater wisdom in the future, and pray those families can someday forgive you as well.

I’m disgusted by the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, yesterday for multiple reasons. It was a senseless loss of life. Innocent children and adults had their future taken from them by somebody who went online and said he was going to do it, but nobody stepped in because “he has his rights” and we couldn’t interfere until he was a threat to himself or others. The problem, I have argued since my days studying psychology in college in the mid-90’s, is that by the time you have tangible proof of this danger, somebody has already been hurt or killed. And it’s usually not themselves.
Others pay the ultimate price for their issues, be it anger or mental illness.

We talk a big game, but do nothing meaningful to prevent it. Gun control won’t help. That isn’t dealing with the anger epidemic or mental health issues affecting people in this crazy, changing world. They’ll just find other ways to hurt others. Heck, anything can be a weapon, even the human body itself. Ever watch a Bruce Lee movie? Pointing to the gun lobby as the problem for school shootings is like saying that food makes people fat, so we won’t allow people to eat anymore. Or drive cars, because they get in accidents. Or use appliances, because sometimes the wiring is faulty and causes fires. Do you get what I’m saying here? Broad strokes aren’t going to address the specific problems we’re facing.

What we really need is going to take more time, energy, and attention than we want to utilize to solve the problem. We need a renewal of mind and spirit that creates an atmosphere of support and growth in our society. We are diverse, and so are our needs and our problems. Everybody needs a place to express themselves and be heard. Everybody also needs to be bold enough to step up, or at least speak up, if something doesn’t “vibe” right. Being sorry today is too late for 21 people today. It might have helped them if law enforcement and security personnel in schools in Texas knew about him yesterday.

This isn’t like the Vicky White case a few weeks ago. She hid what she was doing. Salvador Ramos didn’t. And both situations ended the same – with loss of life – because nobody was paying attention to the signs that something wasn’t right here. Her’s were subtle. His, not so much. But it didn’t make a difference in either case.

We really need to open our eyes and become more aware of the world around us. Not only have our tempers flared out of control to create a dangerous world, but we’re blind in our tunnel vision of simply getting through each day.

What’s the answer? I hit on it in my last entry: we need to quit being traumatized by COVID (and everything else) and get back on track to learn grace and patience, and find the internal motivation to take steps in a right direction to create the world we said we wanted in the wake of the pandemic. There are no quick or easy fixes. It will take lots of work and time to get these small steps to add up to big differences. There are no shortcuts. Remaking reality is precision work and takes time, dedication, and persistence. We need to get started before reality remakes us into an evolution of humanity that we never intended. Wait, it's too late. That's already in progress, and we have to stop it before it's too late to save ourselves and the world we live in.

Obviously, this issue is on my mind and heart a lot these days, as it's seeped into both of the short stories I wrote last week. If you want to see how this reality is fictionalized, I welcome you to check out "Radiant Reality" (my story for last week's Reedsy contest prompt), and "Circumspection" (which I wrote for a Writing.com contest).

It’s gone too far. People are dying because of our chaos now, and it's too much. It’s time we got our proverbial crap together and started doing right, by ourselves and others. It's time to be bold, resist the impulses of reaction, and be proactive in creating the world and the reality around us. We can't control most things, but by gosh we can control our own thoughts, words, deeds, and actions. And that is the key: we need to quit reacting, and start being proactive.

I can't even watch or listen to the news now. It's too infuriating. The debates over mental health reform and gun control are pointless. The bottom line truth is that we failed. And this is a failure of epic proportions. We've learned nothing, and we need to fix that.

That’s all today. Take care, and let's try harder from now on. Every one of us certainly needs to.

Bye.

Get Used to These Four Things in Our "New Normal"

5/23/2022

We got the “new normal” that we talked about, but I don’t think it’s what any of us expected. From inflation to out of control gas prices to monkeypox, I think we had improvement in mind instead of, well, what we got. What happened? How is it that we were determined to build a better world, but it hasn’t happened yet?

I wrote two scifi short stories last week, and the theme of both was disappointment over not being where we hoped to be. That tends to happen: we have big visions for a better tomorrow, then tomorrow comes with unexpected circumstances that we didn’t figure into our planning and derails our best intentions. I was grocery shopping yesterday when it occurred to me that there are several things we’d better get used to in this “new world” so we can cope with the reality we’ve got and find new solutions to find that normal that we were hoping to have. For example:

Being hot. I recently saw something on Facebook where the U.S. Department of Energy suggested setting summertime thermostats at 78 degrees, and I openly challenged them to live in South Carolina from April 1 – October 31 and let me know how that really worked out for them. Not only are our summers scorching and humid, but HVAC systems don’t last like they used to. They might be more energy efficient, but there’s also more demand on them. I don’t care whether you believe in global warming or not – summers are hotter now than they were 30 years ago, and there’s nothing we can do about the compounded effects of it now. Get used to sweating folks. Summer isn’t even here yet, and we’re already in what I call the deep fried “stupid hot” of summer.

Waiting. The population in the southeast is exploding as people retire and relocate to the southeast. Reasons vary from a lower cost of living to escaping the population saturation and COVID restrictions in other areas. The problem is that the “great resignation” has hit SC hard, and the workforce we have is struggling to keep up with a rising population. Not only that, but our road system was developed in the 1950’s – 1960’s, and still isn’t updated to accommodate with urban sprawl and development that has exploded in the state during the 2000’s. The result: the age of “instant everything” is over. Get used to waiting, folks. Everybody’s got to get out and do stuff, and there’s more of us than ever around these days.

More attention to personal health and sanitation. If you thought they gossiped about people walking out of the bathroom without washing their hands before COVID, then don’t even try it now. COVID made us germaphobes with good reason: we should have been more attentive to personal hygiene all along, and it’s a shame that it took a pandemic to make us realize how nasty we can be. Then again, people never were considerate of those of us with respiratory issues. The coughing and sneezing had gone from outright anger reactions to fear, and I’m not sure which is better or worse. At least there’s a bit more awareness of diseases and how they spread now. I suppose that’s a good thing, even if people still seem to be struggling to understand sinuses, mucus, and breathing in general.

Being treated badly. Snark is in, and everybody is on a mission to “one up” what they don’t like of with the ultimate putdown. The problem is that you reap what you sow, so this “snark” isn’t doing anything to build up better relationships or cooperation with others. It’s the balance of life: if you snark, then you set yourself up in competition with others, and in the end you always lose. Sadly it’s here to stay, as I see the snark epidemic spreading from the young to older generations, and that’s not inspiring friendship or mutual connections with others. You reap what you sow (boomerang effect). Yes, you’re free to express yourself as you wish, but you aren’t free of the consequences of your behavior. If you’re mean or rude, then people are going to need time and space from you, and there’s nothing you can do about that. So snark if you must, but get used to being treated badly. It’s what you’re reaping, and the only thing you can sow is isolation and loneliness

This certainly isn’t the “new normal” that I thought we were talking about two years ago. It’s hard for me to believe that we wanted the anger and frustration we see in the world today, but that is what has manifest, so we either wanted it or got badly off track. I truly think it’s the latter.

Can we change it? I hope so. Another rising thing I see is the popularity of meditation, no doubt to help people manage stress and come to a new awareness of life and themselves. I know meditation has helped me tremendously in working through the post-traumatic stress of my trials over the past couple of years, so perhaps this is a key to get people back on the track that we intended two years ago. It’s a small thing, but often those small things are they key to the biggest changes. Maybe this is it. We certainly need something to nudge us back on track.

Who knows? We can’t help the heat or the crowds, but maybe we’ll learn some grace and patience to find the internal motivation we need to get back to work on this brave new world we said we wanted.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!