Image copyright Bill Watterson
Most of the house has been thoroughly cleaned and smudged. We’ve been smudged. And with the new year comes a new focus.
I have to admit that 2007 was, if nothing else, educational, shall we say. It disabused me rather thoroughly of all those quaint notions I once had about American ideals. You know, like, oh, say, the Constitution, the rule of law . . . those kinds of "ideals."
Yes, it does seem quaint now, doesn’t it? Not to say stupidly, criminally, dangerously naive.
Well, my eyes have been opened.
You know, it’s not the partisanship that drives good people from the political process. It’s the lack of it. It’s the sycophantic slavishness to polls and pundits; the utter bankruptcy of any principle save the retaining of one’s hold on a taxpayer-funded sinecure; the pussified spinelessness that fears "being criticized" - criticized! - by a war criminal whose approval ratings are in the crapper. It’s the abject failure of any of our putative "leaders" to get what real life is like for real people, as opposed to those who, like each of them, live inside their self-created and self-sustaining bubble of hallucinogenic bullshit.
And now it’s driven me from the political process.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ll still vote. (It’s the one thing I have left, although I have no confidence that they won’t find away to strip that from me, too.) And I’ll still write about the evils of our present "government." And make no mistake: It is truly evil. But for someone who spent her teens and adult life as a political activist (and consultant, and speechwriter, and party officer), I think it’s indicative of how thoroughly poisoned the well is that I now want no part of that. I haven’t been top a party meeting in months, and I doubt that I’ll go back. If/when I do build my client list back up again someday, I doubt that I’ll take on any more political candidates - not even for dogcatcher. Watching the Pelosi/Reid/Emanuel Show, and the media artifice that supposedly passes for the current "presidential" campaign, I realize that there’s no room for me here - there’s nothing I can do. The system has become so inherntly corrupted that it has become evil in its most banal form. American politics 2008 has become the one and only example of the truth of what was once only an excuse for a war crime: We need to destroy the Village in order to save it. (Yes, "Village," with a capital "V" - the metaphorical home of Teh Villagers, whose senses have been permanently blinded by their existence in The Bubble.)
I literally cannot stand the thought of what the ensuing weeks and months will bring: The inanities, the stupidities, the atrocities of Teh Villagers during a modern "presidential" campaign. So, for the most part, I’m opting out.
So what am I doing in the meantime?
Well, that’s one upside to the Destitution Trifecta of illness, unemployment, and poverty: As long as it costs no money, I can pretty much do what I want. Which, in my case, means two things.
First, I can write. All the yeyars I’ve wanted to devote to writing - fiction, poetry, essays, you name it - and I never had time, because I was always working. Now - well, not so much. So I’m trying to write every single day. (Yes, new laptop at last - it was a birthday present from the BF.)
Second, this year has put me in the (to me) odd position of healing. For others, I mean. In recent years, I’ve done some traditional Native healing, mostly for pets, but occasionally for people (and in one notable instance, a wild animal). The opportunities keep knocking on my door, so apparently I’m supposed to keep answering it. For some time, I’ve had a small apothecary of herbs and natural substances and a small library of references. We’ve decided that, since I’ve apparently been given the ability to do some of this on a small scale, maybe it’s time to start working on it in earnest. So one of my first investments, when I have some change in my pockets again, is going to be a panoply of the necessary supplies. I now live in an area where you can buy just about any homeopathic or alternative product, but - predictably - I don’t like using others’ products. When I make them myself, I know exactly what’s in them, and how much; and they get the added benefit of being produced in the old traditional ways, complete with ceremonial blessings. So occasionally, you may see some references here to these kinds of remedies.
Sometimes, when life completely upends itself and you have no control over it, you just have to withdraw from it for a while and regroup. I’ve done the withdrawing over the last six months, and begun the regrouping. Now we’re trying to find a way to contribute to the health and well-being of society without endorsing or participating in our current corrupt system.
It’s gonna be a lot of work.
For now, miigwech (thank you) to all of you who still drop by. I know I owe responses to some of you. And from the two-leggeds and four-leggeds chez ARA:
Happy New Year!
