Republican Convention Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Distracted

I’ll admit it: I’m distracted. Karl and I held to our commitment to refrain from watching politics this evening and instead indulged in some back-to-back episodes of Schitt’s Creek. But once 11:00 p.m. rolled around, Karl hit the sheets and I turned the channel from Netflix to cable news, where coverage of Hurricane Laura is dominating the news.

The enormity of the potential destruction this Category 4 hurricane is likely to inflict is hard to fathom. The meteorologist was describing a 20’ storm surge – which, first of all, is basically water as high as a two story building, right? But then he reminded us all that on top of that 20’ storm surge another 10’ of wild waves will be crashing against anything and everything in the storm’s path.

If you ask me, that sounds like the makings of an apocalyptic movie. And that wall of water? The most recent prediction that I heard (just now) is that it could extend as far as 40 miles inland. Forty miles. I imagine people living 40 miles from the coast do not ordinarily expect the sea to reach their doorstep.

Kenosha

And then there’s Kenosha, Wisconsin and the brutal race-related shootings that took place both Sunday night and then last night, too. Jacob Blake – another name we’re going to have to remember. At least it appears he will be able to speak up and speak out on his own behalf, even if he is paralyzed from the waist down (at least temporarily) and sustained grievous injuries to his vital organs. His sister’s statement rocked my world.

I don’t even know what to say about a 17 year old kid from Illinois showing up at a protest in Wisconsin (about Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by police) with an AR-57 and blowing two people away. “Only in America?” “Is America great again?”

The Republican Convention

From what little I just saw over the last several minutes, between the other two massive stories, above, it looks and sounds like there’s precious little overlap in realities anymore. That’s scary. But it’s not a scary that makes me sacred. It’s a scary that makes me angry. And determined.

Wild Fires

Oh – and lest we forget, California is battling unbelievably ravaging wildfires sparked by dry thunderstorms. Yes, they’re a thing. And I’m pretty sure there were something like 1100 dry lightning strikes that set the current blazes alight.

Pandemic

And we hit 180,066 – make that 183,653 – deaths from the Coronavirus tonight.

I think I need to stop writing for this evening.

I’m really sorry for being such a downer tonight. I am trying to find my Hope. (Pats pockets. Looks around blankly.) Maybe I left it in my other clothes.

Portal between worlds – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-457)

Promise on the Horizon – Photo: L. Weikel

Schitt’s Creek

In an effort to avoid as much deliberately-induced anxiety as possible, Karl and I decided to abstain from political fare this week. We’re choosing instead to rely primarily on video clips embedded in news articles for a recap of the state of our country as viewed by the Republican Party. Which brings me to what we’ve been watching instead: Schitt’s Creek.

We only started watching this show, which ran for five seasons, about six weeks ago. It just aired its last episode on Netflix this past April – and I’m pretty sure we started watching it because of the affection expressed by viewers who seemed genuinely sad to see it end.

It took us a couple episodes to get into it, but the campy characters and their affectations are both over-the-top and endearing. There’s no violence or ugliness. It’s mostly about relationships, primarily superficial ones, but some of them are particularly playful and truly fun to watch develop.

Most importantly, though, the show is an easy, light, and playful escape from, well, the shit’s creek we find ourselves up, especially as Americans, if we’re clear-eyed and honest. And just catching some of the clips from the two evenings of the RNC extravaganza so far, makes it clear (if it wasn’t already) that we’re navigating without a paddle.

(No. I couldn’t leave it. It had to be said. You knew it was coming. I tried to muzzle myself but, in the end, I couldn’t resist.)

The truth is, we’ve streamed an especially generous number of episodes of Schitt’s Creek over the past couple of days – and the irony just had to translate into a blog post.

The Alternative

The alternative to me making lame jokes about the name of a television series and extolling its efficacy in allowing our minds to slip into neutral for an evening is – you guessed it – more cloud sharing.

Tonight we witnessed some towering specimens of magnificence, which then gradually gave forth to some startlingly ominous and threatening banks of darkness. And yes, the metaphors weren’t lost on us.

It was as if we were witnessing a water vapor enhanced exposition of the soaring visions painted last week juxtaposed against the oppressive boogeymen of fear and oppression on offer this week. What was most remarkable, perhaps, was the rapidity with which the transformation occurred.

Looking NW – Photo: L. Weikel

A Warning

All of which feels like an essential reminder and warning to all of us. Things can change dramatically (in a myriad of ways) in the blink of an eye. We make assumptions at our peril.

We mustn’t be afraid – but we also must, at the same time, remain vigilant and steadfast in what we know to be of greatest importance in life. We’re living in unprecedented times, and we’re being asked to choose the world we want to both create and leave as our legacy.

Do we choose to see and build on the beauty? On love? Or will we focus on the darkness, the fear, and the division?

It’s up to us. And our choices are our paddle.