Every morning, on and off, for nearly a decade, I feel as if I have woken up to a new and increasingly alarming realization. And the world feels foggy, like it’s still asleep.
Of course, it started when a game-show host declared victory in 2016 and, in short order, began dismantling all kinds of legal and political norms, exposing how depressingly easy it was to transform a public office into a personal entitlement beyond the reach of accountability.
But it didn’t end there.
And, as much as I thought during his first term that the “adults in the room” had fled the scene, I had to acknowledge that this time around, and only one year in, there wasn’t any resistance at all - like the incoming outfit had stripped our national infrastructure down to the studs.
Selling off each little bit, seemingly, piece by piece. With or without our approval, a flimsy nod of the head that carries no real weight or an immeasurable sanction. And everything is just a little bit worse.
We go about our days tending the things that don’t tend themselves or neglecting the things that are harder to stomach. Such as the specter of war set in motion, not by an act of Congress but by the edict of a tweet. We tune in to hear department heads talk about dissent being labeled as domestic terrorism, while poorly trained, masked police murder citizens with near impunity.
This can’t be our destination. We can’t land here. This can’t even be our middle ground.
There is no alternate planet for us, or for them.
Surely cooler heads and reason will prevail.
Until then, our only constant is that every week, Mondays follow Sundays the same way Thursdays proceed Fridays. And so on, and so on, like quicksand.
We have to be vigilant in reminding ourselves not to let it swallow us up.
We have to guard our rest, so when we do get out of bed, put on the bravest face and do more than simply hope for the best. We have to take pains to really DO our best.
Keep calm, as they say, and carry on.
Maybe we don’t have to do anything new … maybe we just have to pay closer attention to the things we haven’t noticed or hadn’t thought were important.
Today might just be the day that you meet a friend in the grocery store, they will sing the praises of the cava cava oranges, perhaps, and you will admit that the Cuties are getting old. You will catch up on the good gossip as other shoppers rush around you, the pebbles in the stream.
Small talk.
It’s hard to know where we are safe to land.
It makes me think about the protectionist, vigilante thinking we have come to embody: “See something, say something.” has us all brainwashed.
But “say no more” isn’t always the same as saying less.
It certainly seems like a juggling act.
Eventually, everything settles.
Reclaim your time. Recoup your strength.
Come out from under.
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