Month: January 2021

Stalked By Spirit – Day 791

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Bald Eagle over the Tohickon – Photo: L. Weikel

Stalked By Spirit

Well, let’s face it. I think if any of us are going to be stealthily pursued by anyone or anything, getting stalked by Spirit is unquestionably the best option.

I wrote the other day, last Tuesday as a matter of fact, that I’d been feeling pretty anxious over, well, lots of things, but in particular the Senate run-off elections in Georgia taking that day. (Is it even possible that not six days have gone by since that election?)

As we know, a great victory for democracy was won that day (at least in my opinion); two victories, actually, although one wasn’t officially ‘called’ until the next – exponentially more momentous – day.

Writing in my journal as I sat beside my beloved Tohickon Creek, I felt an oppressive sense weighing me down. A sense of foreboding. Or perhaps it was a feeling that I – we – were on the brink of being forsaken by our better angels. My outlook dramatically shifted when I caught sight of the bald eagle perched at the surface of the creek. I felt heard. Seen. Acknowledged – somehow reassured that all would be well.

Bald Eagle ‘in’ the Tohickon – Photo: L. Weikel

Two Days Later

Two days later, just this past Thursday, Karl and I took a walk in the middle of the day. Naturally, our conversation was consumed by the events we’d helplessly witnessed unfolding the day before, before our very eyes, as insurgents attempted a coup at our nation’s capitol.

Suddenly, a gorgeous bald eagle appeared from behind a massive pine tree we were approaching. The surprisingly mewling, creaky cry of this raptor, which is so different than the distinct shriek of a red-tailed hawk, registered in the back of my mind as our faces swept up to catch sight of it wheeling and turning right above our heads, not more than 15 feet above us.

We were buzzed by a bald eagle. Only two days after I’d had that magical sighting right on the creek.

Yesterday

I returned to the creek again yesterday (Saturday). I needed a little time to listen to the soothing voice of the Tohickon and write in my journal again. Digesting the details of the events that are unspooling before our very eyes is no easy task. Making sense of the reactions of both our lawmakers and our fellow citizens is growing increasingly difficult. Figuring out our place and what we can do to shape the outcome of these times we’re living in is an essential task.

The day was overcast again and there was precious little animal or bird activity. A ‘V’ of seven Canadian geese flew west, upstream. But that was it. Nor did I expect anything. Everything felt dormant to me. In hiding. Withdrawn.

Eventually, I turned my car around and headed home. Just as I approached the bridge where I caught sight of the hawk four days before, I looked up. Wheeling in wide loops above me was the eagle. I swear, it’s the same one. But who knows? It’s certainly all within its territory.

I was able to pull over and snag a shot of it as it swooped in arcs above my head. Slowly, lazily, it wove its way downstream.

Three sightings in the span of six days. Yes, I can explain it away logically. I live within the territory of this bird. Of course I’m going to see it.

But I choose to believe there’s a bit more consciousness behind these encounters. A little bit more mystery, more intention, more connection.

Medicine Card Message

A couple sentences from the entry about Eagle (whose keyword is Spirit) from Medicine Cards* by Jamie Sams and David Carson:

“In learning to fiercely attack your personal fear of the unknown, the wings of your soul will be supported by the ever-present breezes which are the breath of the Great Spirit.

…

If you have been walking in the shadow of former realities, Eagle brings illumination. Eagle teaches you to look higher and to touch Grandfather Sun with your heart, to love the shadow as well as the light. See the beauty in both, and you will take flight like the Eagle.”

Hmm.

Three’s a charm. Perhaps it’s time to pay attention. Maybe stop walking in the shadow of former realities. Perhaps it’s time to really and truly start paying attention to Spirit’s teachings.

*affiliate link

(T-321)

Under Pressure – Day 790

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Under Pressure

I’ve been clenching my teeth in my sleep for a lot longer than I want to admit. I even bought a mouth guard and started wearing it at night a few months ago. But honestly? Over the past few weeks, I started noticing that my teeth on one side of my mouth are more sensitive to temperature – and I realized the joints of my jaws were sore. My poor teeth! Clearly, I’ve put them under pressure. (Yes, follow this link.)

The extent of that pressure became sadly and abundantly clear this evening when a piece of one of my molars actually cracked off. Good grief! I took a photo of the piece of my tooth that ‘just couldn’t take it anymore,’ which allowed me to magnify it. Although it’s kind of unpleasant and a bit embarrassing, I’m posting the photo anyway.

I’m posting it because I’m astonished at the cracks I see striating my tooth. It’s sobering to contemplate just how much pressure my jaws were putting on my teeth – some estimate up to 265 pounds per square inch.

It makes me think about our country and the pressure we’re all under right now as well. It feels as though my broken tooth is a metaphor for what we’re witnessing play out in our country as a whole for generations. That’s how long I think the pressure has been building.

I also think if we put our country under a microscope (or even zoomed in on it with our iPhone cameras – which perhaps is what we did with all the ‘selfies’ and videos taken during the insurrection and attempted coup on Wednesday) we would find as many cracks in some of our foundations as in my tooth.

Something Has to Give

It seems to me that something has to give. It’s obvious that the status quo is unsustainable.

I believe in the principles upon which our country was founded. But I think cracks are appearing and pose an imminent threat of breaking us apart if we don’t apply the principles we hold dear uniformly and fairly.

We’re all still reeling from the debacle that unfolded in our Capitol grounds just three days ago. The rampage exposed a lot of cracks.

I want to believe we can still shore up those parts that have cracks. Perhaps make them stronger through relieving the pressure and desperation felt by so many. Maybe we can do that by sharing the foundational concepts (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) more equally. It’s hard not to crack under pressure when you can’t afford food, shelter, or health care – particularly in the midst of a pandemic that you’re told is a hoax – so get back to work – if you even have a job.

It’s even harder to feel free, or heaven forbid, pursue some happiness.

Weight and Hope – 9 January 2021 – Photo: L. Weikel

Heavy and Light

Right now, the future we’re facing looks like the photo above: There’s huge and pretty dark pressure weighing down on all of us right now. But there’s light at the edges. And it’s exquisitely beautiful.

I feel – even if only tangentially and in my own pretty darn privileged way – the pressure and desperation felt by so many in our country. It’s hard for me to find the words to convey how much I want to contribute to shifting our collective reality toward what we all seek in our hearts.

I truly believe that the way we’ll relieve the collective pressure on all of us individually and on us as a country enough to avoid cracking and breaking apart is to realize we’re all in this together. It’s so simple, yet so complex. We need to get back to those founding principles but this time – really and truly have them apply equally to all.

Post-Script

Can’t hurt to take a look at the lyrics to Under Pressure as we contemplate where we are right now. I’ll admit – I never listened to them as closely as I did tonight – when the title to my post appeared before I wrote any other words. And now, as I go to copy and paste the lyrics here (while you’re hopefully listening by clicking on the link, above), I realize it is the 4th anniversary of David Bowie’s death. I just got chills. This very well may be our last chance.

Mm ba ba de
Um bum ba de
Um bu bu bum da de

Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for
Under pressure that brings a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets
Um ba ba be
Um ba ba be
De day da
Ee day da that's okay

It's the terror of knowing
What the world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming Let me out
Pray tomorrow gets me higher
Pressure on people people on streets
Day day de mm hm
Da da da ba ba
Okay

Chippin' around kick my brains around the floor
These are the days it never rains but it pours
Ee do ba be
Ee da ba ba ba
Um bo bo
Be lap
People on streets ee da de da de
People on streets ee da de da de da de da

It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming let me out
Pray tomorrow gets me higher higher high
Pressure on people people on streets

Turned away from it all like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don't work
Keep coming up with love but it's so slashed and torn
Why, why, why?
Love love love love love
Insanity laughs under pressure we're breaking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance
Why can't we give love that one more chance
Why can't we give love give love give love give love
Give love give love give love give love give love

'Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the (people on streets) edge of the night
And loves (people on streets) dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure

David Bowie and Queen

(T-321)

Walking Through Mud – Day 789

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Muddy Upstream – Photo: L. Weikel

Walking Through Mud

So, how’s 2021 working out for all of us so far? Honestly, this first week of January has felt like the emotional equivalent of experiencing an entire year (of horror) in warp speed. And yet the past two days have felt, to me, like I was walking through mud.

I have to wonder if I’m the only one who’s experiencing this paradoxical sensation.

I’m feeling incredible outrage coursing through me as I contemplate the audacity of the people who stormed our halls of Congress. It would appear at first glance as though they’ve perpetrated this assault with impunity, although I’m aware there are many arrests yet to occur and crimes to be charged. As we witnessed the mob violence unfold on Wednesday, though, it was beyond upsetting to see the marauders almost stroll out of the Capitol with admonitions to honor the 6:00 p.m. curfew.

When we subject ourselves to the images of that fateful day (which are admittedly hard to avoid in the aftermath), how do we reconcile within our own psyches the hundreds upon hundreds of bodies streaming through those marbled halls, smashing windows and battering down doors with the reality that only 15 arrests were made that day? Yes, more have occurred since then. But the sheer incongruity of it all, especially after witnessing the predominantly peaceful protests following George Floyd’s murder this past summer and the oppressively militaristic response to them is overwhelming and depressing.

Bar the Doors

Ever since I woke up yesterday (Thursday), I’ve felt as though I were living in a different world. Accomplishing the tasks on my agenda the past two days has felt like it took Herculean effort. Again, my movements – heck, even my thoughts – felt like they were struggling to swim upstream, pushing against a thick current of despair and revulsion prompted by the chaos and malignant intentions unleashed on the symbols and representatives of our government.

It feels as though something needs to be done to protect us from the worst impulses of the current occupant of the White House – and they need to happen immediately. Even taking a ‘wait until Monday’ approach feels perilously risky. I feel as though we need to bar the doors and grab the oxygen masks – all while running through waist-high mud.

The End and the Beginning

It feels like it might be a good thing to revisit the advice we received from The Crone just four short days ago. We are indeed living through ‘the End’ of a cycle. Perhaps over the next several days, those of us who have no real power or influence over what gets done procedurally or even practically in dealing with the imminent threat DT and his followers pose to our democracy might want to take some time to sit quietly and envision what we want to create.

How can we improve our country? Get the money out of politics? That might be a great place to start. How could we best accomplish that? Just imagining trying to bring such a reality into being might feel like we’re still running through mud. But what a difference this could make.

That’s just one thought that occurs to me this evening as I try to shift my thoughts from despair to a new day.

But first we need to get through the weekend.

(T-322)

Accountability – Day 788

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Watching and Waiting – Photo: L. Weikel

Accountability

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m exhausted. I’m also disillusioned. Disillusioned, but sadly, not surprised. Given a day to reflect on what I watched unfold on my television screen yesterday, I realize that what we witnessed was not a fluke. And the word that haunts me is ‘accountability.’

Sadly, both my reflection on yesterday’s events and monitoring of today’s leads me to the depressing realization that pretty much everything I’ve believed in all my life was a ruse. A fallacy. Accountability is apparently only for suckers; only applicable to people of meager means or those whose lives are so unremarkable as to be unconnected to those who wield power and influence.

I’m sure most of you know exactly what I’m feeling in the pit of my stomach right now simply by reading that one word title of this post. I bet most of you are feeling it too. That’s because most of us believe in there being consequences to our actions. And I am not talking about the potential long-term consequences that undoubtedly exist (I’m looking at you, karma), because I don’t actually doubt the inevitability of those.

No, I’m talking about direct, foreseeable, inescapable consequences to our choices, actions, and behavior. Accountability – being held responsible or answerable – in the present moment.

Stunned

Were you, like me, rendered nearly speechless when the masses of mostly maskless rioters were simply herded out of the Capitol building and allowed to walk away? Did you see anyone being arrested? Did you feel nauseated by the impunity with which these insurrectionists desecrated the House and Senate chambers, sitting in the seats of power with their feet up, rifling through papers, scrolling through laptops in lawmakers’ offices, destroying wooden nameplates, smashing windows and doors, even carting off the Speaker of the House’s lectern?

These acts were conducted without consequence. Sure, some of these people will be tracked down and arrested – eventually. But let’s face it: what we witnessed yesterday was an unprecedented violation of personal and public space by marauders intent upon disrupting the work of our democratic government – and there was essentially no accountability. In fact, it sure looks as though there was aiding and abetting going on by those tasked with the exact opposite. That, my friends, should scare the hell out of all of us.

Not only were the insurrectionists allowed to storm the Capitol with very little resistance, it appears that those who stoked this may get away without being held accountable as well. And the reason this took place in the first place is because there has been a lack of accountability for at least the last four years.

There is a gross disparity in our nation regarding accountability. Compare this activity with what we saw yesterday. We talk a lot about accountability in this country, but it is rarely applied to those in power or in the favor of those who are in power. Is that really what our country has come to stand for?

Failure to hold to account results in emboldened action.

We are in great peril.

Photo: L. Weikel

(T-323)

Words Matter – Day 787

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Photo: L. Weikel

Words Matter

I imagine many of us are still trying to get our bearings as to what country we woke up in this morning. Talk about whipsawed emotions and prospects. The outcome of the Georgia Senate run-off election is how we started the day (although we weren’t sure about Ossoff’s victory until later in the day). But then, oh look. By shortly after noon we were witnessing a debacle, a travesty – an appalling tidal wave of conspiracy-minded people swarming the sacred ground of our Capitol and defiling chambers and Congressional offices. The thing is, words matter. So I’m offering this post as a service to help us accurately assess what we are witnessing.

A lot of different words have been bantied about to describe today’s events. It’s an affront to all of us to dignify the heinous actions of both our current president’s speech and the events immediately following that speech, with the words such as ‘protest’ and ‘protesters.’ No, we need to dig a little deeper into our lexicons.

Black’s Law Dictionary

I happen to have a vestige of my first profession easily accessible in my living room bookcase, my copy of Black’s Law Dictionary*. It seems like an appropriate tome from which to derive some accurate definitions of what I believe we may have witnessed today. Let’s see:

Insurrection. A rebellion, or rising of citizens or subjects in resistance to their government. Insurrection consists in any combined resistance to the lawful authority of the state, with intent to cause the denial thereof, when the same is manifested, or intended to be manifested, by acts of violence. It is a federal crime to incite, assist, or engage in a rebellion or insurrection against the United States. 18 U.S.C.A. § 2383. See also Internal security acts.

Although I’m not about to parse the definitions I’m providing the way we’re taught in law school, I’m confident in the abilities of you, my readers, to break these down enough into their components to get the gist that yes, there is a good chance federal crimes were committed today by a number of individuals. It’s wise to note that, besides those who actually participated in any such rebellion or uprising, those who incited it are also culpable. Food for thought.

Another Couple of Definitions

Another word we occasionally hear (and may hear more often now) and for which I thought you might find a definition helpful in your reflections on what we witnessed today is sedition.

Sedition. Communication or agreement which has as its objective the stirring up of treason or certain lesser commotions, or the defamation of the government. Sedition is advocating, or with knowledge of its contents knowingly publishing, selling or distributing any document which advocates, or, with knowledge of its purpose, knowingly becoming a member of any organization which advocates the overthrow or reformation of the existing form of government of this state by violence or unlawful means. An insurrectionary movement tending towards treason, but wanting an overt act; attempts made by meetings or speeches, or by publications, to disturb the tranquility of the state. See 18 U.S.C.A. § 2383 et seq.; see also Alien and sedition laws; Smith Act.

Two ancillary definitions you might find interesting:

Seditious libel. A communication written with the intent to incite the people to change the government otherwise than by lawful means, or to advocate the overthrow of the overnment by force or violence. Smith Act, 18 U.S.C.A § 2385. See Alien and sedition laws.

Seditious speech. Oral advocacy of the overthrow of the government by force or violence.

And Finally

Treason. The offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance; or of betraying the state into the hands of a foreign power. Treason consists of two elements: Adherence to the enemy, and rendering him aid and comfort. Cramer v. U.S., U.S.N.Y., 325 U.S. 1, 65 S.Ct. 918, 932, 89 L.Ed. 1441. See 18 U.S.C.A. § 2381. A person can be convicted of treason only on the testimony of two witnesses, or confession in open court. Art. III, Sec. 3, U.S. Constitution.

I confess that I would have to read the specific wording of 18 U.S.C.A. 2381, but the action described in the first clause of the definition as written above sure has a familiar ring to it.

Words Matter

In the coming days and weeks, I have a feeling there will be attempts to draw a lot of false equivalencies to the actions that took place today and actual protests and marches that took place earlier this year. When words of art are used, it’s helpful to have definitions before us that we can reference. I hope this is helpful. May you use them wisely and judiciously.

*affiliate link

(T-324)

Unmoored – Day 786

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Eagle on the Tohickon – Photo: L. Weikel

Unmoored

I’ll admit it: I was on edge all day. It wasn’t even truly conscious. I just felt a vague unease, an inability to settle down and focus on anything. I tried taking a break and visiting my refuge: the Tohickon Creek. Even there, I felt a bit unmoored. I even noticed and commented to myself that everything was shades of brown – and not a bird or an animal in sight.

Today, of course, is the Senate run off in Georgia. The stakes in that election are monumental. They literally stand to change the course of our country’s trajectory, and possibly even our future as a country as way we know it. That’s a huge responsibility.

And then, even just sitting at the creek, I became aware of the shenanigans afoot in Pennsylvania’s Senate. Occurring prior to tomorrow’s meeting of both chambers of Congress, I can see that this is just setting the stage for more outrageous behavior that will rip at the core of our democracy. As a Pennsylvanian, I am incensed with the behavior of our Republican led Senate.

Bereft

As I sat writing in my journal at the creek late this afternoon, I felt bereft. I want to have hope, but sometimes I just feel overwhelmed by the cynicism and disinformation being spewed into our discourse. It’s overwhelming and threatens to drown us all.

After expressing myself on my journal’s pages, I decided I needed to get back to the house and take affirmative steps to make things better in my little corner of the world. It felt like the only way forward in that moment.

As I turned my car around to return home, I groused that I felt I alone and definitely unheard. It felt strange that not even a woodpecker or duck, not even a sparrow had crossed my path as I sat beside the Tohickon, listening to her voice.

That’s when the white caught my eye. I stopped the car in the middle of the road, grabbed my phone and got out.

Yes.

The Eagle was sitting on a branch poking out of the water streaming by in a cocoa colored flow. I took a few photos, and switched to video. S/he turned, looked straight at me, and took off, extending its gigantic wings to skim upstream about four feet above the surface of the water. About four ducks freaked out and joined it in flight, acting as startled wingmen.

I felt heard.

Just In Case

I jumped back in the car and resumed my trek home. Not 1,000 feet later, just as I started to cross the bridge that spans my Tohickon, a Red-Tailed Hawk caught my attention, staring at me from a towering sycamore.

Yeah. Just in case I felt unheard – Spirit reached out to reassure me.

“Have faith,” Hawk whispered.

I do.

Red-Tailed Hawk – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-325)

Ask the Crone – Day 785

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Ask the Crone

Here we are again, at the beginning of a week that could have ramifications that extend from our own personal survival to that of our democracy, and indeed influence the balance of power in the world. Yeah, I know. It sounds hyperbolic. But if we’re honest, anyone who’s paying attention knows it’s true. So in order to give us some guidance and perspective as we navigate this week, I decided to ask the Crone.

I sat with my Tarot of the Crone deck and closed my eyes. I held within an awareness of the challenges we’re facing this week and started shuffling the cards. I could feel myself yearning for some kind of light, some indication from Spirit of what we should hold in our hearts as we witness the coming events unfold.

Where We Are/Where We’re Headed

I chose two cards. The first was to help us understand where we are; what we’re experiencing. And the second card I chose was where we’re headed; what’s coming; what’s in store for us.

Visually, just laying the cards out beside each other was stunning. They are remarkably similar at first glance, but the differences, while subtle, are unquestionably meaningful. And it’s not insignificant that I chose two Major Arcana cards. (Out of the 78 cards in a tarot deck, only 22 are Major Arcana and represent powerful archetypal concepts.) The fact that both cards are ‘Majors’ reinforces my sense of this week’s importance.

I also found it meaningful that Where We Are is only one card away from the end of the Majors. It is number XX, and in this deck its name is “Calling.” It doesn’t escape me that in traditional tarot decks, the XX card is called “Judgment.” We’re pretty much at the end game in our democracy. Our system is being challenged in ways the founders almost certainly never imagined. And yet…the Where We’re Headed Card is the very first card of the entire deck. We’re headed – hmmm. Back to the drawing board?  Back to “Go” so we can redefine a more perfect union?

Even beyond the Constitutional crisis we’re approaching, there’s the horrifying reality of the surge in the pandemic creating vertical spikes in numbers of infections, which will inevitably lead to spikes in hospitalizations and, ultimately, deaths. Add to that the discovery of several mutations of the virus – the most recent, I believe, being in South Africa – and once again the eerie appropriateness of the “Calling” or “Judgment” card is obvious.

Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince – XX Calling

Where We Are: XX – Calling

“Come

It is time for you to wear the cloak

Accept your power

And accept your responsibility

Come

Be with me now

Show me your power

The Crone holds up a red cloak, asking you to wear it, calling you to join her. She appears as a shadowy fantastical bird. The background is the rich blue of the deep sky. The red and blue represent power and justice. These are the colors and this is the card of the superhero. How an ordinary human can become extraordinary is the mystery of this card and it has nothing to do with anything you’ve been told before.

When you get this card, your life is changing, whether you want it to or not. From this change arises an opportunity to become greater in person and spirit, to step up to another level. Something is asked of you and you feel urged to respond. If your response is resistance, know it will take more energy from you than accepting the challenge would. This is your big moment. Take your courage, the strength of your heart, and fly.”

It seems to me that we are all being ‘called’ at this juncture to step up. To be superheroes for the greater good – to demand the right use of power and reinforce our belief in justice. This is big. History will judge us by our reactions and responses in the coming days.

Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince – 0 Fool

Where We’re Headed: 0 – Fool

“To know me, you must first know this ~

In the Beginning, as in the End,

There is Nothing

Behind your ordinary world

Behind all manifestation

Lies the Void

I am the emptiness surrounding the universe

I am the uncertainty of the electron

I am the nothingness hiding in your soul

In the Void you have no name

Words do not exist

You have no memory, no past or future

Time does not exist

You find no landmarks, you have no body

Matter does not exist

But You

You may still exist

A mere spark of awareness

But that is enough

That is where you begin

The Cloak of the Crone is all you hear, all you see, all you know of your everyday world. Only a Fool would try to see what lies beneath. Only a Fool abandons the known for the unknown and perhaps unknowable. Only a Fool risks becoming lost in the Void, becoming a tiny star in endless space.

A force beyond your small self opens a new space in your soul. You are impelled to start on a new path. One in which you cannot predict the final destination, or possibly even the next step, but feels inevitable all the same. Can you truly trust the Universe? In the Void, where there is no up and no down, you can do nothing else. Remember there is a part of you that wants this, that welcomes it, because it knows becoming formless and timeless is what you need to create a new future.”

It seems to me that where we’re headed is uncharted territory. This is the time when we have the power and responsibility to create and hold a vision of what we want to manifest as our future. We really are at that crux in time when our choices, our values, our vision matter most. What do we truly hold dear? How passionate are we about the importance of truth, honor, accountability, integrity? What kind of a world do we want to create going forward?

We hold the future in our hands.

(T-326)

Catch Phrases – Day 784

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Found on our walk – What Are We Seeing? – Photo: L. Weikel

Catch Phrases

It’s funny. I’m sitting here in my usual spot in my living room, allowing the thoughts and feelings generated by the day to percolate and inform me of the topic for tonight. Sometimes catch phrases pop into my head and I run with one of them. Other times I look at the photos I’ve taken during the day and open my heart and mind to the inspiration often whispered (and sometimes shouted) by what they depict.

Tonight there are no photos. At least no photos of clouds or stars or the moon. No photos of Spartacus or Cletus, Precious or Tigger. No sunsets. No creeks or waterfalls or dirt roads.

I write that now, but who knows? Perhaps by the time I complete this essay I’ll grow desperate and resort to including a gratuitous snap of one of my familiars. They have my back that way.

I’m a tad frustrated by my discovery that the two phrases that initially popped into my head have been used by me far too many times already, and all within the past nine months. It’s as if ‘a big week ahead’ and ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’ have gestated. It’s possible, I suppose, that the concerns of the prior posts are coming to fruition now.

Big Week Of Shoes Dropping

The events of the coming first full week of 2021 are ‘big’ in many senses, and that’s why I’ve been reticent about issuing a full throated “huzzah!” over the end of 2020. The calendar may say it’s over. But its essence, its chaos and disruption, definitely is not.

Had I written tonight’s post twelve hours ago, I probably would’ve started a recitation of the week’s ‘big events’ with the Senate run-off election in Georgia on Tuesday. It’s pretty huge. The results of this election couldn’t be of greater consequence to the future of our country.

But of course we couldn’t have Tuesday start our Big Week. No. As of this afternoon we all now have access to an hour-long tape recording of our current president doing what he does best: threatening, bullying, and trying to coerce a state official (of his own party, even) to ‘find’ votes that would prove his fantasy and supposedly upend the results of the November 3rd presidential election.

So now we’ll be inundated with that story.

Then Comes Wednesday

We’re all being prepped for an ‘explosive’ day on Wednesday, January 6th, 2021. The outgoing president is all but calling for an armed insurrection. Members of Congress, both Representatives and Senators, many of whom were elected or re-elected in the very same election that took place on November 3rd are stating their intention to protest the pro-forma counting of electoral college votes based on baseless allegations of fraud. And baseless is an accurate description when courts have decided so in 60 different lawsuits. (Would that that were a hyperbolic number of cases brought by DT and his minions. But alas, it’s not.)

Again, What Are We Seeing?

I’m called once again to ask myself – and all of us, really – what are we seeing?

It’s important that we see it clearly, call it what it is, and figure out just exactly what we need to do to preserve the integrity of our country. The time of bullshitting ourselves about the reality that the current regime is trying to talk us into believing is true must end now.

It’s going to be a Big Week, with shoes dropping all over the place. And it’s not going to end this week. So let’s open our eyes and ears.

We must See. We must Listen.

(T-327)

What Are We Seeing – Day 783

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What do YOU see? – Photo: L. Weikel

What Are We Seeing?

I tend to write a lot about listening. It’s a passion of mine. I believe a well-developed ability to sincerely listen to whomever (or whatever) we’re in relationship with is a profound display of respect and caring. And listening is most definitely fundamentally different than just ‘hearing.’  In a similar vein, I feel there’s a fundamental difference between looking and seeing. Sometimes it serves us to stop and ask ourselves, “What are we seeing?”

There’s a lot going on in the world right now. Especially here in the United States, situations are presenting themselves that I honestly believe very few people would ever have believed even one year ago, much less four years ago. These situations, while unfolding here in the U.S., are most definitely going to impact the entire world – just like they did four years ago.

It seems to me that we would all be wise to not only brush up on our listening skills, but right now take a good look at what’s taking place right before our very eyes.

What are we seeing? What is being said? What does it all mean?

Ask Yourself

We owe it to ourselves to ask ourselves and each other these questions before it’s too late. It seems to me that if we’d been truly listening to what was being said by the most powerful people in this country, we would not be in the position we’re in at the moment. Intentions have been stated quite clearly. But a desire to just ‘hear’ and a refusal to truly listen may have sealed a fate for us to experience – at least in the next several weeks and months – that no one wants.

And the same can be said for how things look like they’re going to play out.

What are we seeing? Is it a gorgeous sunset? Or the Eye of Sauron? When we look, what – or who – do we see staring back at us?

So Many Eyes – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-328)

Timelessness – Day 782

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Spartacus Greets the New Year – Photo: L. Weikel

Timelessness

Maybe it was the way the sunshine of the morning was almost imperceptibly overtaken by a gray comforter of overcast. The sleet that started prickling us as we rounded the final turn of our walk hastened our gait. The warmth of our fireplace beckoned. A sense of timelessness set in as daylight dimmed so dramatically that we had to check the time. Had we lost a few hours somewhere?

Was it the weather? Was it the arrival of the first day of the year on a Friday – giving us a full weekend to get used to the fact that we’re no longer under the spell of 2020?

Was it the haunting memory of last night’s images of a nearly empty Times Square?

Out of Sight

If you are lucky enough not to be part of the front line troops in our most recent war, it was almost possible to imagine life unfolding in any configuration you might want to fantasize today. The cranky closeness of the clouds was the perfect screen upon which you could project any fantasy of reality you might want to conjure.

That’s such a strange facet of our reality right now. We have the world at our fingertips. But we also have the ability to cut ourselves off from the vast majority of it. For instance, living out in the country as I do, it’s a fact that if I choose not to look at my phone or computer or turn on my television, I can remain in total ignorance of the chaotic lives hundreds of thousands of people are living (and thousands are losing) every single day as a result of this pandemic.

It feels disrespectful and cold-hearted to realize that ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is both so easily employed and radically true in our country. Especially when you hear people saying that Covid-19 is a ‘hoax’ simply because they don’t know anyone who’s sick or died from it. Yet.

I’ve written before about my sense that it’s part of my personal responsibility as a member of society to maintain an awareness of what’s unfolding in our lives politically and otherwise. I’ve also written that it’s essential to maintain a healthy balance. We can become so consumed by anything (whether we judge that thing to be ‘good’ or ‘bad’) that it can do us harm by making us oblivious to the rest of our lives.

Cocoon

Today, though, with the weird color of the daylight and the remarkable quiet when we took our walk, it was stunningly easy to imagine the world to be much different than I know in my heart it is.

Perhaps there is some merit to total withdrawal every now and then. If we project onto our personal screens of overcast clouds a vision of a world where people honestly care as much about their fellow Earthlings as they do about themselves, maybe it will matter.

I can say one thing for sure. I could use another couple days of timelessness and projection of a better world. I’m glad we still have the weekend ahead of us.

Be well. Take care of yourselves. Spread love and kindness, not virus.

(T-329)